


Troubled Diamonds

by VanHoppersAide



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Affection, Anxiety, Beginnings, Care, F/F, Falling In Love, Family, Fanart, Fear, First Meetings, Fluff, Getting to Know Each Other, Hurt/Comfort, Mistakes, Origins, Problems, Protection, Shattering - Freeform, Slow Burn, Sweet, learning, not realizing youre in love until it hits you in the face, older diamond suffers, protect and care, solutions, white is scary, yellow is the more mature one, younger doesnt have to
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-30
Updated: 2021-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-27 14:33:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 45
Words: 90,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22038592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VanHoppersAide/pseuds/VanHoppersAide
Summary: Blue meets Yellow shortly after her emergence, and quickly realizes she doesn't really want to leave her side. She falls in love without even realizing it, and Yellow's behaviour is only making it worse.Story flows around all three Diamonds (as the story progresses - four), focusing mainly on Bellow relationship, but includes shipping of pearls :p. Also will contain the moment when Blue let her Pearl draw during trials ;)How exactly does the Diamond Authority look like from inside? What do characters feel? What makes White be so close to a psychopath? Which Diamond actually carries the weight of the whole gemkind on her shoulders?Read to find out ;)
Relationships: Blue Diamond & Pink Diamond (Steven Universe), Blue Diamond & White Diamond (Steven Universe), Blue Diamond's Pearl/Yellow Diamond's Pearl (Steven Universe), Blue Diamond/Yellow Diamond (Steven Universe), Pink Diamond & Yellow Diamond (Steven Universe), White Diamond & Yellow Diamond (Steven Universe)
Comments: 135
Kudos: 343





	1. First meeting

**Author's Note:**

> It's my first fic so please bear with me ;p. I will be adding chapters as often as I can.  
> Sorry for all the spelling and grammar mistakes. (I'm doing my best :c)  
> Feel free to give some feedback and write comments - you dont have to be logged in to do the second ;)  
> [Steven Universe belongs to Rebbeca Sugar/Cartoon Network]
> 
> Have a nice reading!

Being underground felt like being asleep for very long weeks. The only time when gems were able to experience slumber, even if they didnt even realize what it was. First thing she felt as she emerged was air on her face. It was cold, which she was faintly aware of. The dark, starred sky was watching her from above, and the move of clouds on it shook her back to consciousness. She quickly knew that her name was Blue Diamond, she was a ruler and the highest standing gem that exists.

Blue inspected her form briefly, and noticed that her colour blends in with the colour of her surroundings. The place she emerged from was full of dark hues and black shadows. The ground was solid and cold, although it looked like broken glass in some places. _Ice_ , she thought to herself. The mountains around her were made of exactly same material, only some were covered in grey snow on top. The wind blowing dust and sharp bullets of cold was the only thing that indicated the scenery was real and not just an image. It made her hair flitter and only then she realised it was white, and highly contrasted with the rest of her body. She moved her pale blue hands through it to taste the softness of straight strands, before resting her eyes once again on the background.

After examining it thorougly the diamond moved herself higher from the ground and started walking. Didn’t exactly know where but she didn’t want to just stand in one place and wait. Wasnt existing until a few minutes ago but already felt too important for that. Blue was making her way at careful, steady pace, trying to learn as much as she could from the environment by watching it. Also started to clean her mind about the purpose she had and imbibe all the information about many various gems that were coming into her head rapidly. She hasn’t gone much further than two hundred metres when she heard a loud explosion to her left. She squinted her eyes to see better, but the darkness and distance made it impossible to spot anything. Out of curiosity and less out of instinct she changed her route towards the noise. She was now walking fast, and the same way she was taking in her surroundings. Nothing was really out of ordinary darkness, but she wanted to have insight.

Suddenly somehing caught her attention. Or actually jolted her whole body out of rhytm as she stopped and watched the source of her disturbance. At the flat top of one of the hills covering the area, stood a figure. Its presence wasnt something that shocked blue, but its colour. The short of her existence accustomed her to dark blues and blacks, while now she saw the opposite. The distinctively gold figure was simply shining against the sky, and Blue had to squint her eyes, because she didnt want to look away. She barely noticed a few dozen more tiny figures standing below the gold one. They were all watching her from above for a few long moments.

She was frozen in place, unable to even think of what to do before the golden figure suddenly moved. And the movement caused Blue to experience an emotion for the first time. It was fear. The figure without any hesitation jumped down from the hill, and gracefully, although not silently, landed on the ground. Blue withdrawn herself quickly as she came to realisation that the figure is very close to her size, if not even bigger. She knew herself to be the biggest gem as a diamond. If this wasnt a gem then it was an enemy. And Blue was caught off guard. Didnt think her emergence would take place on a planet that hasnt been secured.

Blue tried to pull herself together and even thought of summoning her weapon. But as the person came walking towards her closer, she lost her defensive attitude again. The sole march of the body was not something to induce fear. Trust, respect maybe, but not fear. It was walking gently on the ground, slowly putting every step as if not to scare her away. Blue knew she was being watched but couldnt make out the details in the body from this distance just yet. Now the figure covered in shadows of the hills shone even brighter, or maybe she was just imagining things.

The colour of it’s body changed into something lighter, but Blue couldn’t find any words to name it. She straightened herself and took a confidently looking pose, waiting for the closer approach.

Although Blue stood rigid, her spine felt limp as the person came close enough to let her distinguish any details. Despite not ever seeing this face before she recognised it imidiately. She recognised her counterpart gem. Knew how different they were supposed to be from each other and yet possesed comparable power. Blue also quickly noted many dissimilarities their forms had. Was something wrong with her? – she thought and brought her hand to the gem in the middle of her chest. But no, no, no, its impossible she would contrast so much.

The other gems body was tall and slim, but also muscular at some places. Especially the arms that came from under tight, pointed shoulder pads. In the middle of her breastplate was sitting a clean diamond gem, a carbon copy of Blue’s own gem’s placement. Her whole body was covered in shining armor. Right behind her knees fluttered the end of a short cape that came into a taut belt. Underneath stood out bronze colored, high boots that were now standing firmly in place. Blue looked with wide eyes at the face of a known stranger. The wind was hardly able to stir any part of the stiffly arranged hair, but she noticed a few small strands flying freely, trying, but failing to cover anything. Her features were neat and smooth. Blue noticed a pair of thin, longitudinal marks below the big eyes, that were watching her carefully.

Only then she noticed the expression of the gems face. Her brows were lightly bend inwards, and here lips were shaped inversely to a small smile. There was worry in her eyes. Worry and uncertainty. Blue grew really anxious at this sight. The thought of her defectiveness came back to her mind, as she tried to remember the look of her own form, without taking her eyes off the one standing several dozen meters in front of her. Troubled, she mirrored the expression.

At that moment the other’s eyes opened wider, brows untangling. A small hint of smile appeared on her face, and she looked relieved, happy even for a brief moment. She bowed slowly, but surely, still trying not to indimidate the dark coloured gem too much. Said gem was currently experiencing a weird feeling of sensation in the middle of her chest, while seeing this show of respect. One of the strongly looking arms bend and landed on her upper torso as the other hid behind her back as she spoke.

"Greetings, Blue Diamond." she straightened herself and smiled warmly, while Blue suddenly thought her sole presence made the temperature around swiftly rise "It’s an honor to finally meet you. I am Yellow Diamond" she traced fingers on her chest, presenting her gem for a moment before hiding her hand behind her back once again "Do you recognize this data?"

Blue scolded herself inside. Imidiately remembered the knowledge she was born with, that she was to have a counterpart nex to her side. That she was to rule the galaxies with a diamond who was her opposite. And of course it was yellow! Why couldn’t she find this word earlier?! How come she suddenly forgot all this infomation for a moment? Blue felt her robes stopped fluttering a while ago as the wind dissapeared and let out a breath she didn’t realize she was holding. She instantly pulled herself together, not feeling any fear anymore, although it was replaced by a different, warm but hesistant emotion she didn’t recognize quite yet.

"I do." still a little anxious, Blue could only answer the question and found herself momentarily unable to add anything more.

"Good" came a quick response and Yellow Diamond started to seem more at ease "Do you know how long has it been since your emergence?"

Blue looked up to the sky and examined it for a second "Two not full rotations" She realized the other Diamond was testing her ability as a gem, and checking if she wasn’t defective in any way. Again Blue felt uneasy with the form she had taken. Was it tolerable? She was watching Yellow Diamond looking at her kindly and decided to have a little more confidence in herself. If her mind’s capability was now being analyzed, then it must mean her appearance passed the test.

"Have you adapted to the informations about gem production and their diversity?" came the gentle, strong voice once again.

"Y-yes" she hesitated "I’m still collecting it" Blue knew all the knowledge will come to her in time, but right now her mind was a mess in front of the golden ruler.

Yellow Diamond smiled wider at the response, showing a line of straight, white teeth. She nodded, still not taking her eyes off Blue.

"Do you know your purpose?" her expression evened a little.

"Yes" Blue took a breath and searched her mind for an answer that would suffice the other the most. But before she could add anything her train of thoughts was interrupted.

"Perfect" said the sun colored Diamond quickly and turned to stand sideways to the blue one "Come with me" She reached out a gloved hand towards her. Blue thought happily (although she couldnt tell why she felt this way) about putting her own hand in it. But as she moved forward, before she could even raise her arm, the other’s hand went back to join the other one resting on Yellow Diamond’s lower back, as she turned completely and started going back to where she came from. Blue felt a little dissapointed seeing the motion was just a formal movement inviting her to come along. Still she followed, eagerly joining her counterpart who purposely walked slowly at first, to let the other keep up so they could walk side to side. But not too close, as Yellow kept her distance.

Blue finished scolding herself for now and tried her best to seem familiar with the situation. As they were walking she noticed many other small gems around. Little bodies were looking up with awe, delighted to see the newly formed leader together with Yellow Diamond. Their size and contrast must have been a beautiful image. Blue started to recognize gem types among the groups. She saw dozens of peridots and much smaller amount of topazes, jaspers, limonites and amethysts – all of them watching from respectful distance, some had tears in their eyes, but none even tried to turn away. They followed the Diamonds as they passed, a few even went way ahead running and turning behind one of the bigger hills.

As Blue came to said hill herself, she saw they certainly reached their destination. In the canyon between two dark mountains of ice lay a shining, yellow armship. Blue smiled lightly at the sigh of the color and turn to her fellow Diamond to check the accuracy. It was an exact reflection of the armor she was wearing. _Beautiful_ thought Blue, although she didn’t quite refer only to the ship.

Many gems around started to hurry towards the huge palm. It was levitating above the ground and only a few soldiers could jump that high to reach it and get quickly embraced by a light lemon colored bubble, before slowly dissapearing while being absorbed. Blue caught in the corner of her eye that Yellow Diamond made a motion with her own arm. She straighted it and positioned the same way the ship was set – loosely with the palm facing upwards, fingers shaped like they were gently holding something invisible. At that moment her arm began to glow, and she moved it lower. The armship mirrored the action, coming closer to the ground. Her palm straightened, fingers flattened and joined together as the ship was now set right in front of the two monarchs, in the gesture inviting on board. Smaller gems were already reaching it and dissapearing inside. Yellow dropped her arm when it stopped glowing and made her way towards the spacecraft.

As she put one of her boots on it she looked back at Blue Diamond. She, seeing that, quickly shook off invisible dust from her robe and came towards the other. Her movement however still showed uncertainity. Blue at all cost tried to hide the anxiety she felt. But the sight of it in her blue eyes didn’t go unnoticed by Yellow. Her gloved hand held out towards the other as she approached. Blue, shocked, reached with her own. She hesitated for a short second before realising she already caused enough delay. She grabbed the offered hand that held her gently and pulled further on the ships surface. Blue was amazed with the difference in their forms when they touched. Althouth build the same way, looking similar, five fingers and slender wrists both, Yellow’s hand was a little bigger, definitely stronger, but held her delicately. She didn’t have sharp nails at the end of every finger like Blue did. But the most interesting thing was the warmth it produced. Blue imidiately grew fond of the sensation. _That’s propably how sun stars feel in touch_ – she smiled to herself.

Her smile faltered however when they stopped in the middle of the huge palm, and that warm hand let go of hers. They were now standing close to each other, Yellow moved so she was half facing the other. Blue held her breath unvoluntarily when she saw up close those big, honey colored eyes, that were watching her carefully and… tiredly. She could now see the shadows around them. Unlogically, it made her think they make her thick, black eyelashes stand our prettily. Her gaze stopped on the diamond shaped pupils and the fluttering inside her chest strenghtened when she saw the reflection of herself in them.

She thanked silently the bubble around them that started to form, because it broke her staring. Acknowledging they were about to get inside the ship, she fixated her eyes anywhere different that the golden general’s face. At it fell on her chest instead, landing on a big, smooth, shining yellow diamond gem placed in the middle of it. She once again looked at her own, laying just above the connected strands od her white hair. She felt a weird joy at the fact that they were both the same type of gem. The one standing on top of hierarchy neverless!

The bubble around them dissapeared, and they found themselves inside the control room. It was big, with walls the same colour as the ship’s owner. In the middle stood a single, solid throne, which Yellow made her way to. She only just stopped and stood on the elevation it lay on, and made a movion with her one hand, the other still behind her back. A light screen appeared in front of her, almost bigger that the window acting as one of the walls. She started to click and move the folders and different symbols on it.

"Pearl," firm voice broke the silence "inform me when all the gems are loaded onboard."

Blue noticed the smaller gem before, and felt proud she recognised her type immediately. The pearl was standing near the elevated throne, next to her own, little, but solid desk build into the floor. She was lighter colour that her Diamond, but stood just as proud and confident as her. Blue liked the puffy, almost transparent sleeves she wore, and wondered how her own pearl will look "The last ones just reported to have taken their positions inside" said the high pitched, formal voice.

"Very well" said the general and opened a few other screens in front of her. Just when she was about to click something though, she stopped herself and turned back to Blue, who was watching her all this time with no small amount of interest "I… suggest you take a seat" she smiled sheepishly and pointed at the dignified chair near where she was standing. Blue tried to burn this sight into her memory as her nonexistent heart trembled.

She did as she was told, with Yellow Diamond making sure of it with a short glance. After a moment the whole ship shook, and departed. Blue held tightly to the arm rests, while the turbulences were moving them high in the air. She realised she hasn’t yet got accustomed to the gravity change, but she knew that was supposed to come to her naturally in time. Thank stars she was sitting, cause she would definitely fall during departure – and that would not serve as a good impression on the older Diamond.

After the most unpleasant part or the journey, Blue tried not to freeze her gaze only on Yellow again. She watched the view behind the giant window build in one of the walls of the ship. She tried to recognize a few stars and planets, but that quickly became pointless as their speed increased and she could see nothing that wasn’t blurry. Her eyes once again rested on Yellow Diamond’s pearl, _Yellow Pearl_. She was definitely trying not to look at Blue Diamond at all, but once she saw she’s being watched, her whole form froze in place as she was staring back, eyes wide as the oval gem in the middle of her chest. At first she look shocked, questioning, but after a while of this exchange Blue noticed actual fear in her eyes. She hasn’t moved a muscle, her arms were still hanging in the air in front of small screens above her desk. Blue didn’t like the way it made her feel, so she tried to smile gently to change the atmosphere. But at this sigh, Pearl’s expression panicked even more for a second, she quickly broke her gaze and came back to handling the folders displayed before her. Not looking at the dark Diamond again.

Blue didn’t know what to make of it, thought only if maybe her smile came as something mischievous. She started watching Yellow Diamond again. The armored gem was standing sideways to her, examining many screens appearing and dissapearing rapidly. One of her arms was lifted, not resting for a moment from clicking and arranging the displayed symbols, while the left hand was still firmly placed behind her back.

Blue was recognizing the technology quickly, despite the fact that Yellow didn’t stop for longer than necessary. She saw many digits, measurements and exuations. Some were reports coming from other gems, some were informations and statements about different planets or plans that Yellow propably made before leaving Homeworld. The knowledge came to the Diamond’s mind in a flash. She saw the structure of their home planet in her thoughts. Just when she spotted a big white diamond gem on one of Yellow’s screens she also recognized the most important monarch, the only being standing above her and Yellow. A shiver came down her spine. Despite never meeting White Diamond and having no knowledge of anything bad she had done, she felt anxious just imagining her face.

After a few hours Blue felt mostly accustomed to the technology the other Diamond was using. She got up and came closer to have a better look. Yellow Diamond, spotting her action, moved a little to the side and without taking her eyes off them, she positioned the screens at an angle so that Blue could see everything. Dark colored Diamond felt her face become warm, and came to a conclusion that its because she approached a source of heat, so… _obviously_.

She stood next to Yellow, mainly examining the screens and only sometimes throwing glances at the seriously looking figure. That was when she noticed that general’s face showed worry. Her eyes were looking confidently at everything but her expression revealed that she was definitely still distressed. Blue quickly scanned the display she was managing, and saw nothing that could cause any alarm. Her mind began racing again. Why was she troubled? Was it her fault? It didn’t look like something was wrong with her before, what changed? Maybe she was supposed to do something during this flight…

Blue quickly lifted her hand and made the same gesture Yellow did some time before. She wanted to open her own screens – that was successful. She didn’t want them to appear so suddenly, mix up with the yellow ones, startle the general and make her stop her work as nothing could be made out of the display. Yellow looked at her suprised – **that** caused her to gasp loudly with a panicked expression on her blue face. She moved both her hands forward and tried to manage the mess. But instead of closing the blue screens, the yellow ones reacted to her touch, and moved further between each other, forming a shiny, green mosaic.

She was now freaking out inside, and it must’ve showed on her face. After a few, terrifying seconds, a yellow, gloved hand rested on hers calmly, and lowered it away from the clutter. The general raised her other arm towards the mess, and slowly, smoothly made her way through it. She closed the yellow screens, separating them from the blue ones, and then closing them too, making all the holographic technology dissapear, leaving them without the little light they provided.

After a short moment of silence, Yellow, without even looking at Blue, opened her screens once again, and came back to her work. That caused Blue to feel the worst feeling she experienced so far. She felt embarassed, and mostly angry at herself for causing Yellow more trouble that she already had. She suddenly sensed cold coming from her gem, already imagined tears that were about to form in her eyes.

"Here" Blue’s mind went blank. Yellow, with a single gesture moved all her screens further to her right and turned to the troubled Diamond once again "You can try now" she smiled ever so warmly, and pointed at the free space that was left in the air. Blue felt her whole form soften and heat up once more. She returned the smile and happily repeated the motion from before. Now the screens were displayed next to each other, not tangled in any place. The Diamonds shared a look once more, and Yellow came back to what she was doing. Blue also moved her gaze towards what she was supposed to work on, but her thoughts were focused on something else for next few minutes. She still had the kind expression of her counterpart in front of her eyes. Blue thought of how much Yellow wanted to let her know she can be trusted and relied on. (Well that was earned quickly). She touched her cheek and sensed how hot it was right now. It made her beyond happy that she was to rule next to someone like that. And it was the second most powerful being existing she was talking about, so her feelings were clearly justified. _It’s only natural_ she thought.

She wanted to listen to this intense voice more, but she couldn’t quite make any excuse for that. All the knowledge she needed as a ruler was coming to her every minute. If she started to ask questions, that could mean there actually is a defect. Blue figured being in the Yellow Diamond’s presence is enough for now. They surely will have some other chances to talk. Right now both focused on handling their holographic screens.

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After some more time passed, the ship started to gradually reduce the speed. The journey was coming to an end, Blue thought. She looked outside through the window and saw the outline of Homeworld. All the knowledge about it was already situated in her head. But the confidence she felt faltered as she remembered White Diamond’s face. She knew first thing outside she will have to meet her. During flight, she saw Yellow exchanging messages with a white colored diamond symbol. Not as much fear, but discomfort took place in her nonexistened heart. She’ll have to bear it somehow…


	2. Second first meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know how to format here properly, please forgive me and enjoy the story ;3 !

It’s been few hours into flight already, nothing tragic has taken place yet. The new Diamond seemed to be satisfactory. Her form met the general expectations. No defects visible. Her parlance is fluent. She has wide comprehension and all the data comes to her in acceptable intervals of time.

Yellow Diamond was now handling reports and sending statements to White Diamond while standing in the middle of the control room in her ship. During the whole trip she was repeating in her head everything she saw and heard from Blue Diamond. There was no vital errors. That gave her a huge relief. She searched for anything that would negatively suprise the superior Diamond, and she unexpectedly found herself really happy, that so far she stumbled upon nothing.

Of course Blue Diamond was… _different_ from her. But that was obvoius and expected. In fact, the more distinctions Yellow noticed, the more at ease she became. It wasn’s their point to create a copy, but something completely new. And she didn’t mean just the colour. Having two too similar Diamonds would be sensless and more importantly – more dangerous. Yellow knew that. Because if one of them was too faulty (or just too good at annoying White), the highest monarch could get rid of her quickly and with impunity. And it would cause no inefficiency within the gem producion nor with their control, because there was always a second one.

But fortunately, _thank the stars_ , they didn’t resemble each other at all. It could be noticed just in the other’s form. Not only she had an opposite colour, her whole body was build for a different purpose. She wore a long, dark dress; had a hooded robe that reached the ground and fluttered on it when she walked; her shoulders were visible; hair flowing freely on her back and breast – _"A diplomat" –_ That’s what White said she was going to be. Everything fit.

Not only her appearance was different though. From the look on her face Yellow could see she wasn’t mean for battles. She knew she was strong, had comparable power, but that wouldn’t be enough. And that’s okay, Yellow thought – she will take care of it herself.  
Second thing was her… _um… nature?_ Yeah, well that was completely… she would not relate to it. Yellow has been observing the dark coloured Diamond thoroughly since they first met. She walked gently on the ground, taking in her surroundings carefully. She did not have an intimidating demeanor. Not for Yellow at least, because all the other gems were visibly concussed and scared at Blue Diamond’s sight. The golden general was comparing all of this to her own emergence, to herself.

When Yellow first came from underneath the ground, her head was very close to exploding due to the unbearable speed the data had taken coming into her concience. First few hours she was holding herself very carefully, trying not to fall and break, because despite being a gem, she felt incredible pain. She frowned at the flashback.

Similary to Blue, after some time of wandering she met an older Diamond - White. Said monarch was beyond happy meeting Yellow. Her snowish grin and widely open, mirror like eyes were confirmation enough. But Yellow remained serious. She was listening carefully to White’s statements, and precisely answering her questions. Which was sending the white monarch even further oven the moon. That was the first weird thing Yellow noticed in the Diamond. When she saw the other small gems gathered around, she noted the respect and terror they had on their faces. She thought she didn’t exactly like the second one, but since the ultimate leader was pleased, she stayed the way she was.

"Do you know your purpose?" asked a loud voice. Yellow stood at attention, already having recognised everything she needed about the other Diamond.

"To rule and conquer. To lead and destroy. To expand our power and… to serve you" she stated confidently after quickly examining her knowledge, trying to choose her last words so that they’d suffice the other the most. At that White smiled even wider, which Yellow didn’t think was possible. She came closer, grabbed her gloved hands and brought them higher to her full chest.

"Perfect!" she decreased the distance between her faces, still smiling "But you won’t be serving me, Sunlight… However, I want you to… listen to me. Hmm?" her eyes were like shining, oval pieces of glass "We are going to reign together."

Yellow studied her words and tone carefully, and realised that despide her negation, she meant the exactly same thing "Certainly" she confirmed.

The pain in her head, although smaller, still irritated her when they boarded the spaceship. She didn’t let it show though.

The departure was something Yellow memorized most recultantly. She hasn’t yet got accustomed to the change in gravity, and White’s impulsive takeoff send her soundly into the wall. Then to her hurting head was added her back. White only laughed, said she forgot to take her adapting into account. Well it wasn’t intentional so it’s… _fine…_

_It’s fine…_

Yellow was really glad when she found out there was going to be a third Diamond. Not only it would easen her responsibilities and duties, but also strenghted the authority and expand the gem empire. White was also satisfied, but… a little less than the first time. She was smiling during their conversation about it neverless.

"She’s going to be different than you, sweetheart. Your counterpart."

"Obviously" Yellow snorted "She needs to be different colour. You mentioned blue, yes? That would be most suitable." she said as she was thinking about gems they were lacking. Without the Diamond of proper colour, its gems can be created, but in much smaller amount.

"Yes, yes. But I don’t mean only the appearance. I don’t think she’s going to be… serious and orderly, like you."

At that Yellow frowned. Were those her disadvantages? The look on White’s face though wasn’t something that would mean she was hoping to fix any mistakes (mistakes?) this time. Quite the opposite, she was a little less confident when she spoke "She’s going to be… emotional I presume. Her sentiments will have a huge impact on her power."

 _Oh, ok… WAIT._ Yellow thought of her own position in the authority right now. She knew White likes her being stern and relentless, and she can stay this way because her emotions (which she doesnt have many) never take control over her. Was the new Diamond being fragile under her own feelings a bad move? But White wouldn’s make such a vital mistake, she propably accepted this feature. However… will she be able to handle it?

And in addition – would the other Diamond bear it herself? How will she act when she comes across White first? Yellow repeated her own meeting with the monarch in her head. If the „Blue” Diamond has a good deal of emotions, the troubles of it can cause unwanted problems.

But what was Yellow if not a great problem solver? After considering it for some more time, she offered to come after and collect the new Diamond herself.

"Oh, you would do that?" came a happy grin. White agreed immidiately, at a not at all proper volume of her voice.

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So there she was, trying her best to let the third Diamond have a better first experience. She waited a little longer than White to approach – hoping „Blue” Diamond would familiaraze herself with the data coming to her head. Yellow certainly didn’t want her to be in any way intimidated or to feel limited to what she’s supposed to be. She should be allowed to have a personality if that’s her trait. Remembering White Diamond’s face when she emerged, the general was NOT going to grin like her, not possible. (Not that she was able to do that anyway). But she also knew that a serious poker face wouldn’t be proper, so she decided to undertake a small, gentle smile and hoped that was a good move. So far it proved to be right. After seeing Blue Diamonds propriety, Yellow didn’t even have to fake it.

She felt satisfied. Even while knowing they’re going to have to go to White, now that the spaceship was over the atmosphere of Homeworld. The Blue Diamond was standing not far from her, mastering the display of her own screens. She was doing fine.

Yellow opened the small, control monitor and observed their route of landing. The dark colored, new monarch came closer to her as she was watching the view from the window. Many colorful structures were showing up from under the thin layer of mistiness. She saw it hundreds of times already, and it stopped making an impression on her during the first.

She was also used to small turbulences that accompanied this moment. The other Diamond however apparently was not – Yellow realized when soft, blue hands grabbed her arm hurriedly and white haired form leaned closed to her chest plate, alarmed that she might fall down. The golden monarch knew the other was still adapting. She also knew that her sense of gravity was just fine after all the time that passed, so she surely would not lose her balance. Neverless she stayed unmoved in place and held Blue’s elbow delicately for a moment, just to assure her being fine.

It all happened in less than a few seconds, and ending it was the new Diamond quickly retreating to her former position. Unexplained to Yellow was the terrified look she had on her face, as well as a slightly darker shade appearing under her eyes.

"I’m sorry… " she nearly whispered.

"It’s fine" Yellow simply stated and returned to monitoring their landing.

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Their walk through Homeworld’s paths was accompanied by a loud noise that thousands of gems gathered around were making. Shouting proudly parts of many different hymns, throwing their fists in the air, some even were crying while clasping their hands without self-control. The new Diamond’s arrival was received happily and so Yellow and Blue went ahead towards White Diamond’s palace without further delays.

The whole structure looked like it was made of glass and silver. Every wall reflected white light on gems outside and inside. The ones close enough, that the rulers passed on the way, were bowing lowly or even falling to their knees before the enormous forms.

Yellow Pearl stayed outside, while the two Diamonds opened colossal, glass-like door and went inside their leader’s main control room. It was build just like the halls outside, but light inside shone definitely brighter. White was standing in the middle, but seeing her fellow rulers she glowed up joyfully and closed the distance.

"My, my! Welcome, Blue" she never stopped grinning "Oh, you look beaufitul, just like a Diamond should!" she grabbed small hands in hers. Yellow was standing at attention a little further, watching the scene only with a corner of her eye. Blue was trying her hardest to be proper. She bowed her head and began confidently:

"It’s an honour to meet you, White Diamond" she smiled politely "I am extremely joyous to have woken up, and be able to work alongside you."

"Oh, wonderful! Isn’t she, Yellow?" the golden general hasn’t even tried to answer, knowing her superior’s impulsive talking would interrupt her anyway "And feelingful truly!"after that her pale face aligned a little "Well that makes her quite…" she didn’t finnish as her form lost it’s too confident posture while she searched for correct words.

"Perfect." came a short inclusion from Yellow. Her face stayed serious, but calm and respectful towards both other Diamonds. She knew she couldn’t use a word „flawless”, since White only described herself this way. And stars know, she was propably right, Yellow thought defeated. She noticed Blue Diamond’s eyes widen and part of her face getting dark again - she didn’t know what to make of it, but since her general colour didn’t change, it wasn’t a big deal. Especially since White didn’t pay attention to it at all. She only smiled happily again and clasped her hands turning to the youngest Diamond once more.

"Indeed!" she didn’t notice Blue’s slow loss of confidence "You will be working mostly alongside Yellow Diamond however, as you are equivalents" she made a gesture, showing Yellow to come closer. When she did so, White grabbed her hand (suprisingly to Yellow ever so gently) and pulled her so that she was standing next to Blue, in front of their superior leader who was now smiling gently (not crazily grinning, which Yellow noted gladly).

White watched them proudly for a moment, which made no impression on the older, but embarrassed the younger Diamond - even more so that they were now standing arm to arm. The general then noticed how smooth was the material of the other’s dress. It was nice in touch.

"Marvelous!" the highest monarch stated "Sunshine…" she took Yellow’s hand "Moonlight…" did the same with Blue’s "The authority is now more powerful than ever. Our gem empire will expand through the galaxies, and we are going to rule it for eternity that is about to come."

l  
l  
l

The silence in the palace was now being disturbed by loud sound of steps echoing through the halls. Yellow was to escort the new Diamond to her own part of Homeworld, where she was supposed to adjust her own form of rulage. And so they walked together without a word, passing bowing and saluting gems on the way. Yellow could see that the Blue Diamond was somewhat distressed, despite trying to hide it and not looking in general’s direction. She felt bad for her, knew that even though meeting with White went really well (better that she thought it would go), that sole experience could shake the Diamond’s confidence. _Yeah, we may be hard_ , she thought, _but also brittle._

"You did good. It went well" she said quietly. Wanted to lift her new friend’s spirits a little. She knew when she first emerged she could never tell whether or not her behaviour was proper in front of the superior ruler. White Diamond was usually smiling, but her words and tone weren’t always joyful, so Yellow had no real confirmation of anything until she learned to read her leader’s mood almost masterly. Eventually not needing any verifications.

"I know that, you don’t need to tell-"

Blue Diamond gasped after the hurried, loud response left her mouth. Her hand quickly covered it before she finished – she was lost in her thoughts, not even remembering who she was walking next to for a while. During the meeting with White Diamond she completed gathering all the data. It also came to her how exactly she was supposed to behave, and so she realized she needs to be more firm… and less unconfident. She was angry at herself for being so wobbly after her emergence. She was a goddamn Diamond. She was to conquer worlds for stars sake!

After leaving White’s control room she was only repeating in her head that it went quite alright, despite her being a little shaky. Words she spoke weren’t intended for Yellow.

Said Diamond was at first taken aback with a sudden outburst, but she recovered quickly. She covered her mouth with a back of her fist and let out a muffled snicker. Noticed how it contrasted with a terified look Blue Diamond was giving her.

"Hmh…" she shoot a quick glance towards the glassy castle they left behind, smiling "Maybe she really did better this time…"

Yellow said calmly and returned to looking ahead. She was prepared to spend the rest of their walk in silence, sensing that the other Diamond wasn’t exactly eager to record friendship in their designed cooperation. If she didn’t need that, maybe White actually **did** made her better. But-

"Wha-no no no no no… I didn’t mean to-"

"It’s fine" interrupted Yellow. She knew the newly formed ruler didn’t want to insult her in any way. Not yet at least. She certainly didn’t need her to force herself to be nice to the general - that would be insulting.

"No, it’s not" Yellow was taken off guard again, when she felt a cold hand fall on her lower arm. She turned to the other Diamond again and saw an expression she has never seen at neither White’s, nor at her own face. The cerulean eyes showed extreme worry looking up into hers. Yellow thought that despite the new monarch truly being beautiful on any occasion, she was not a fan of seeing her troubled like this.

"I’m sorry" continued Blue Diamond "Gathering all of the data took me some time to complete, I only just finished" she turned her head away sheepishly "I was feeling a little… uneasy. I didn’t mean to be abrupt." her last words were almost a whisper. Her hair were flowing around the hand that was now trying to cover her darkened cheeks "I… didn’t get the chance to greet you properly" came a quick change of subject. Blue was now confidently looking at her counterpart, smiling joyfully "It’s a privelege to be your equal. I’m happy to rule together with you… **two**."

Yellow examined her face for a moment. She smiled, glad that her fellow Diamond seemed to be a… nice person. What else is there to say. She could’ve been just like White or herself-then she wouldn’t be so easy to talk to, not to even mention ruling alongside each other. It’s much easier when the co-rulers are on good terms.

"Likewise" she said smiling kindly.


	3. Third first meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a little short. But don't worry, I'm already working on the next one! ;)

Yellow Pearl was hurriedly walking behind them, keeping up like her life depended on it. She approached her leader’s high boot closer than usual.

"My- my Diamond… "she tried to chatch a breath. When the addresse turned her honey eyes down, she raised her hands, making sure the ruler sees what she’s holding. A small holographic screen was glowing white.

Yellow Diamond without a word reached down and picked up the smaller gem, her secong hand opening the message. She didn’t need to stop even for a second.

"What is it?" asked a high voice coming from her right. Blue was smiling. Her confidence recovered and she was now eager to conversate with her new golden friend. Which wasn’t an easy task, as on every corner there were meeting working gems, and she didn’t want to seem unprofessional.

"White has sent you a pearl" came a low answer "She wants me to be there when you receive her" she didn’t feel the need to put her tiny assistant down, so now only one hand rested behind her back, while the other acted as a sunbed [he he get it?] for a little nervous, but over the moon gem. [Cause she’s a sunshine..]

Fortunately they were already in front of Blue Diamond’s control chamber. Her whole palace was [lemmie suprise you] blue, and it’s darkness generally marked out on the Homeworld’s background. It especially contrasted with Yellow, who, walking through the dark halls, giving a nice, green afterlight on a few walls here and there, looked exceptionally stunning according to Blue, who tried to seem serious, but the whole way she spent stealing glances at her friend. And if the other noticed it, it wasn’t shown in any way.

They stepped inside the control room. It was similar to the one in Yellow’s space ship, which Blue already knew thanks to her data. Neverless she was looking around and taking in the view, happy that it was all hers.

The General got on the platform quickly and turned to the unopened control panel. Her hand stopped right before it touched the device though.

"Do you mind?" she motioned pointing at the instrument. Blue seemed suprised at her question, as if there was no place or need for it.

"No, not at all." she showed a wide smile.

At the consent Yellow proceeded to work on now opened bright panel. It took olny a few seconds before she pressed the last button, which action widened the dark desk in length. From the part that got bigger, a thin flap opened itself, and showed a small object, shining lightly in a sky blue colour.  
Blue Diamond came closer, showing her interest. She recognized the shape as a shell. It was the size of half of her palm. Yellow stood a few steps behind her arm now, waiting. The shell started glowing brighter and rose in the air. Blue, having the required data about this process, extended her hand before her. The glowing object placed itself on it, and the shell slowly opened. A small, thin figure appeared, a pale blue Pearl was now standing on the Diamond’s palm, the temporary case vanished from sight. She was wearing an almost transparent skirt, had hair darker in shade than her skin, that were covering her eyes entirely, leaving only a pointy nose and small mouth to be seen on her face. Her top had a little diamond shaped hole in them, and above, between her collarbones, was sitting a faint sky pearl gem. The Blue Pearl made a diamond salute and bowed her head.

"Hello, my lustrous Diamond. I have beed made to serve you." said a quiet, delicate voice "Your wish is my command."

Blue wanted to say it’s nice to meet her, but she abandoned this thought remembering that she was supposed to be competent. Especially in Yellow Diamond’s presence. So she just smiled kindly, wondering if her Pearl was even able to see it.

"She’s fully adequate" she turned to her tall friend "Thank… oh"... an uncertainity came to her mind "Should I… contact White Diamond just to thank her for that?" she asked hesitantly. It didn’t seem to be a good idea.

Yellow cleared her throat "I’ll give her your thanks… When the opportunity arises." she added looking away.

Blue placed her new assistant on the large desk. Her Pearl landed gracefully and straightened herself to stand at attention, hands folded in front of her chest.

"They’re just as fragile as they look like." a low voice positively suprised her as the General came closer "Try not to injure her."

Yellow Pearl following her Diamond’s movement jumped on the desk, and stood next to the new gem. They both inspected each other briefly and returned their gaze to their leaders.

"Have you ever?" Blue was happy to be able to have a conversation. Now with only their most loyal servants around, she finally had that chance.

"Of course not." Yellow looked at her, almost insulted "She’s as qualified as possible. Never caused any problems under my lead."

Blue didn’t miss it where said Pearl faltered a little, and a dark orange shade appeared on her face as it showed a wide smile. Stars in her eyes focused on her leader, she obviously felt blessed and proud. Her Pearl also took notice of that, letting out a silent smirk. The dark Diamond liked her attitude. But what she liked most was the other ruler’s change in demenaor. She already witnessed her being serious and respectable towards other gems. Even while praising her assistant she stood formal and superior. Blue thought of the moments when she saw Yellow looking at her kindly, with those eyes shining like honey, just like… at the moment. Her heart fluttered happily. Being someone, and seemingly the only one, who could receive this gentleness, filled her own gem with warmth, accompanied by a weird, but pleasant trembling.

"No wonder…" she whispered, but was heard. She took the moment of silence that came to inspect her Pearl’s appearance once more. Two small gems standing next to each other looked really interesting, as Blue came to conclusion that they resembled their Diamonds. Blue Pearl new, bowed and a little shy, while Yellow Pearl standing straight, looking confidently forward, hands behind her back. It made her want to laugh.

"You should give her a small task" Yellow recovered her calm voice "to check her technical work."

"Oh, anything?" Blue looked at her little assistant.

"Your wish is my command." Blue Pearl bowed her head once again.

"Show me the closest located carbon planet." The Diamond spit out the first thing that came to her mind.

Her Pearl touched her gem and displayed a screen in front of her ruler. It showed a planet picture, technical information and many numbers.

"The closest carbon planet is HR1278, located 200 million kilometers from Homeworld, with a diameter of 14 396 kilometers. Currently under rulage of Yellow Diamond, used for creation of calcites, amethysts and rubies." she recited smoothly. Blue inspected the data shown next to it. The numbers were high and composition of gems producted very impressive.

"Wow…" she said and looked at her friend. Her smile however faltered, when she saw the confused look on the other’s face "It looks… imposing." she added hesitantly, trying to fix the situation in which she wasn’s sure what she did wrong. Yellow’s face evened as she gave a response.

"My first. " she turned her gaze towards the display "The rubies from there will be a great use for your sapphires. The planet’s two moons would be appropriate for their production. As well as other gems of course." Blue Pearl at the General’s look showed a picture of said satellites.

 _What!?_ Blue was suprised to hear it was the first planet the other Diamond colonized. The numbers didn’t lie and they were close to perfection. With wide eyes she followed through the data once again, smiling. Her counterpart was an undoubtedly powerful Diamond. She was even so happy to know that if their might is comparable, she is also able to achieve this results.

"But there will be time for this." said strong voice again "Your Pearl seems to work properly" Yellow turned on her heel and started walking towards the exit "Your technical equipment is already updated. Gems from my court are at your service, whenever you need it."

"Oh…" Blue was honestly disappointed to see that their interaction was coming to an end so quickly "When will I be able to see you again?" she asked hurriedly without thinking. Yellow at that turned to her, right before the door.

"When…" her face had questionable expression, she wasn’t sure how to answer " When there will be such necessity." after a seond her gentle smile came back once again, as she added a little bashfully "If you ever need anything, you can always contact me." she gave her one last reassuring look and dissapeared behind the door.

Blue stood for a few moments unmoved, staring at said door. Her smile quickly vanished when the Diamond left. _Well… that was to be expected._ She thought. Her job wasn’t exactly designed to enrich their relationship. She came to her senses fast though. She was a Diamond and she knew her purpose.

"Well, lets get to work." she stated out loud and turned to her devices to handle them. Blue briefly realized that her whole form lost it’s warm sensation. She took notice of the gem inside her chest, now feeling noticeably cold in touch. Maybe she was too agitated to see it before. But the colour she had was a cold colour, so it was fairly normal and expected. Blue let the coolness surround her whole body, as well as the control room. Her own, characteristic feature was to be presented.


	4. Calls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yellow answers the calls from other Diamonds.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I made a new fanart https://www.deviantart.com/edithvanhopper/art/Bellow-Diamond-art-828874694?ga_submit_new=10%3A1580521120
> 
> Enjoy ;P

"20% hydrogen and helium in mass. Atmosphere consists of clouds made of ammonia ice, water ice, ammonium hydrosulfide and methane. Temperature reaches -230°C. Magnetosphere, a fully developed magnetotail and radiation belts…" was speaking a squeaky voice. Yellow Pearl was giving her a quick report about an Ice Giant planet – the first planet Blue Diamond was to colonize. It looked adequate for creating many gems, including lapis lazulis, which were most needed at the moment. It also seemed quite… unchallenging. No life was able to survive with this conditions, so any problems with fighting were absent. It might take her some time to get through the thick layer of ice to reach a proper ground for a kindergarten, but other than that it shouldn’t be difficult, not for a Diamond.

Yellow was sitting in her contorl room, multitasking as usual. Her desk full of reports and technical data, over a dozen screens floating in front of the ruler. She finally closed the one displaying the cold planet. From a few briefing meetings with her court gems, she knew that Blue Diamond was already preparing to start the expedition. Yellow was happy. The overall gems productivity was increasing with every passing day. The work she had was now much more diverse. She liked it. She wasn’t limited to her own shades now. Good part of the statements she received were now mostly only informational, as there was another Diamond to deal with them.

Not that the amount of her work was any smaller. On the contrary – there was more of it, but definitely more interesting and in less cases demanding her intervention. Yellow was especially glad that some gems she had to take care of, belonged now to someone else. There were a few sapphires that were really getting on her nerves. But now that the blue court was growing, she was freed from this annoyance.

Everything seemed to be fine. White Diamond had full trust in her two juniors. She had been flying in her spaceship through the galaxies, inspecting the colonies. Yellow was glad, because it meant she wasn’t going to be sent for. Their interactions were mostly telecomunical at the moment, which was a huge relief. The General had troubles keeping up with her pace, how fast she was talking, the attitute she had, always feeling above others and showing it with no shame. That was something Yellow had to get used to, at some point realizing that she herself is very similar. Her subordinates received a very similar type of behaviour. They were both relentless, shattering gems and destroying planets without a blink of an eye. Of course it was always justified… In Yellow’s case at least. She was very aware that the other Diamond simply… liked it. She was _the highest standing sovereign, the most powerful gem existing_. That’s why the features she had were _quite unsuprising_ – is what Yellow thought.

What disturbed her mostly though, was the other’s change of manners, when she was adressing her, or just was around. The way White Diamond was giving orders to other gems was almost a threat, as if they had to do it, or they’ll die. When she was talking to Yellow however, she spoke calmly, lightly. Like she was telling her to pass something that dropped on the floor, that’s how she was giving her orders. The sun colored Diamond supposed it’s good, that it means she trusts her fully. This thought also unfortunately gave her a slight feel of uncertainity. If she was going to fail her once, she might end up worse that just being shattered.

This insecurity was however faded. Yellow Diamond had her own court and a great power to spread Homeworld’s might through the galaxies herself. Subjecting to White Diamond was a side note. Something that has taken place in the deepest, darkest parts of her mind, which she kept too busy to mind it. Following the other’s „wish” she treated her almost as an equal, being completely aware that she wasn’t. In their relationship Yellow showed respect, but wasn’t afraid to dispute sometimes (not on the outside at least). She behaved freely around her, with a formal touch of course. Yellow wasn’t although sure how to call this relationship. They were on friendly terms, yes. But were they actually friends?

That’s why Yellow thought fondly of a newest Diamond. The Blue Diamond. It was written in stone that they were equals. And although Yellow never had one, didn’t exactly know how their relationship would form, she was sure that it simply **had** to be better that what she had with White.

She wasn’t wrong. So far Blue Diamond had proven to be an approachable acquaintance. Yellow felt good that she even had a chance to be of help to her. At first she was hesitant to try, thinking that maybe the other Diamond doesn’t need it or doesn’t want it. She remembered herself being the youngest. Although her knowledge was complete, her calculations and coming up with solutions flawless, White wanted to aid her too. Opening her model control panels first, touching every device that was laying on her desk. Yellow never told her to stop, despite wanting to, she knew her place around the superior gem, eventually getting used to it.

Yellow smiled at the memory. She was quite stiff after her emergence, and White had every reason to be excited, as she was the only Diamond other than herself. It was… actually nice of her, Yellow thought. And White Diamond doing nice thing wasn’t something common.

The train of her thoughts was interrupted by a blue scrren appearing and glowing on her left. Pearl always directed all calls coming from the other Diamonds straight to her, without asking. Yellow relations with Blue were quite alright, good even compared to the third Diamond. Talking to someone equal still wasn’t an easy task for the General. She didn’t want to accidentaly insult her. Also the other way around. She knew she herself used to hold back aroud White, but that’s because she was her superior, and Yellow knew her place. A counterpart however could’ve caused problems. Before the youngest has woken up, she hoped she wasn’t going to come to hate the newest Diamond. Yellow was sure she could be easily annoyed, and if the other had some passive aggresive attitude, she would not put up with it.

But Blue Diamond was polite towards her. Her behaviour directed at other gems didn’t differ much from hers, as she required respect, and was always standing high. Ways expected of a ruler. Appropriate.

Yellow recalled the last time she left the chambers of a blue palace, a few months ago.

„Wow? " she looked questioningly at her Pearl walking next to her feet, out of habit.

"Umm…" the small assistant tasted the next words in her mouth "A form used to manifest a positive suprise and to express admiration. Blue Diamond was… impressed with what she saw. It was a…compliment. " Yellow Pearl wasn’t sure if her owner even wanted an answer, but she delivered it neverless, as well as she could.

Yellow didn’t say anything more. She was taken aback by it, only a weird grimace on her face revealed it. She wasn’t used to compliments. Not from someone on her level, and so she wasn’t expecting it.

After a few seconds Yellow stood up and opened the screen call. A bust of Blue Diamond’s grace appeared in front of her, a pale face smiling to her as usual. The General like this smile. It was different from the one White greeted her with, as if it didn’t have any bad intentions behind it.

"Hello, Yellow." said the dark colored Diamond happily. Yellow once again felt weird. To this day only White used to call her without accentuating her gem type. Much yet about the informal greeting. Such a shameless, cheerful behaviour wouldn’t go well with their superior. Yellow hoped her counterpart wasn’t goint to have to spend any more time with White than necessary. She was prepared to shield her from it.

"Good evening, Blue Diamond. " came her polite voice. She tried to smile but was too tired to show anything more than a weak smirk. " Can I help you with anything?"

" Why yes! As you know I’m soon to fly to planet J3409, to begin a kindergarten construction. " she was looking at a few reports she held in her hands while she was speaking "But I need more peridot technicians and analists. " Blue lost her confident talk and continued shyly "I was wondering if you have some that are free at the moment…"

"Of course." said Yellow without hesitation " How many do you need?"

Blue Diamond smiled gratefully once again, but she still looked a little unsure "One hundred and twenty."

" Very well. " the General turned to handle this matter on her screens "I’ll give you one hundred and thirty, as a spare."

" Oh, I… " a pale blue hand rose to hide her cheeks " already included a spare ten. " she giggled lightly.

Yellow took a moment to look at her, and suddenly a picturesque smile appeared on her face. She thought it was only her who liked to be safe. She held back a laugh "One hundred and twenty it is." and she turned towards her screens. But the blue one didn’t dissappear.

"There’s one more thing…" Blue Diamond started faintly. She continued after Yellow faced her "White Diamond has been calling me." Yellow felt a displeasure inside her gem, but listened "She’s been talking to me about my work, present and future. Also asking questions and…" she was playing with her fingers "Not that it’s anything bad, but I was thinking… is she doing it to supervise me? Does she think I’m… not competent?"

"Oh? No, no, no." said Yellow quickly, waving her hand "It’s definitely not that. She only wants to get to know you and your ways. She also likes to… be acknowledged is all." she was glad she didn’t hear anything like White threatening, or scaring Blue. "You are without doubt skilful enough."

Blue Diamond let out a breath in relief.

" Trust me" Yellow continued to guarantee her friend being reassured "if she wanted you to be supervised, she would assign **me** to it."

It was a fair truth. White Diamond had too much work on her hands now to assist someone else. Plus she would probably like both of her juniors together in one place. They’d be easier to reach and manage.

"Huh… Suddenly I regret being so faultless… " the voice was very quiet, but Yellow heard it neverless.

"What? Why?" she said suprised.

"Oh nothing! Uh- I- thank you for your aid! I’ll be sending reports about the progress as it increases."

"You’re " the blue screen dissappeared from her sight with a swift beep " …welcome?"

Yellow once again took a moment to gather up. She still didn’t quite understand Blue Diamond’s way of being. But oh well… as long as it didn’t cause any problems... She let out a sigh and looked at her Pearl with a corner of her eye, noticed that she’s avoiding eye contact. The tiny assistant didn’t have anything to say this time, so Yellow just returned to her duties, not knowing that the other Diamond was internally screaming and cursing herself at the moment.

I  
I  
I

A bright white screen couldn’t have been glowing for even three seconds before Yellow opened the call. She wouldn’t let her wait. The vivid yellow spaceship she was steering was presently roaming through the far galaxy.

A big, smiling face showed before her, with lively, stiffly arranged hair around it. Thick, black eyelashes outlined widely opened eyes, that were looking at her as if they were piercing through her mind.

"Hello, sunshine!" loud voice spread in the whole room "Working hard as usual I see!"

Yellow didn’t even get a chance to answer.

"I presume you’ve been keeping an eye on Blue’s departure?" black painted nails were dancing on her face.

"Yes. Everything went well." she talked fast to avoid being interrupted. White also received every update sent, so this was just a small talk.

"Oh I know." her smile, at times, seemed to be honest "Such a light aura she has. Lovely, isn’t she?"

"Indeed."

White’s expression calmed a little.

"Anyhow, I’m calling because I need you to join me where I’m currently staying."

"For what purpose?"

"There’s a problem with a central engine and the core of a satellite. No need to hurry though, finish whatever you are dealing with now first, and then come. I’ll send you the coordinates." one last cherry grin and the call was over.

This „problem” didn’t sound any urgent to Yellow. Neither did it exactly seem like something needing her intervention. White didn’t get into details, so there was probably more to it than that.

Yellow being not only a warrior, but also a splendid engineer and inventor. The engine mentioned was most likely one of hers, so she would be the quickest to fix it. Of course other gems were also able to do it, and so was White, but Yellow knew the superior gem sometimes just loved to see her work. And this work will surely be something she wasn’t expecting. As usual when White Diamond personally gifts her with a task.


	5. Talking too much?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue is anxious, but there's someone who tries to help her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm changing the formating, bear with me please...  
> The story includes the difficulty both Diamonds have with White.
> 
> Mind you that the concept of time here is different to gems. All terms of time mentioned (hours, weeks, months, years) are very much longer than in human sense.

„The newest batch of Lapis Lazulis will be ready in few weeks. As of now the gem planting parties are ahead of schedule. Just now they finished preparing another hectar to-

„That is excellent, moonlight, but I’m not calling for a report.” White was talking rather calmly, for herself.

Blue looked at her wide eyed, slowly putting her hand away from the screens she was handling. Last time her superior called her was few months ago, and although she’s been through it many times alaredy, she still felt anxious under the bright, shining eyes. At the time White was contacting her for a purpose of getting to know her, and indroducing her own glory. Blue realized that the only other reason she would call was to receive formalities. As proper and dignified as the youngest Diamond was, she was easily intimidated by the other.

„Oh, do forgive me. What is it that you are calling me for then?” Like an arrow. Almost as if she practiced it. Blue smiled politely, giving her full attention. Years of being a ruler to other gems allowed her to keep her proud stance. She was **also** the most dominant form of life, and so she would’t let any insecurity be seen in her. Even though nervous, she couldn’t help but also be a little curious.

„I want you to remove a few amethysts from your service for now” she gave a small pause „Yellow will drop by your ship. Give them to her.”

Blue looked at her for a second and swiftly moved her hand to send a message to frontal warriors. „Of course…” she hesitated „May I ask… what does she need them for?” she was intrigued why didn’t Yellow Diamond ask her for that herself, but this feeling was quickly replaced by panic and regret for asking the question. She felt like she she was crossing the line by making the conversation unnecessarily longer. Blue froze at the moment of silence that came, expecting a harsh reprimend. But none came.

„She doesn’t. I do. She will hand them on to me” White simply stated.

„Oh, I see.” she continued to give out orders. Thinking quickly at the same time- Blue knew that White Diamond’s whereabouts at the moment were very far from Homeworld, and even further from where she was colonizing a planet right now.

„So she’s coming to you?” she bit her tounge. Damn it. She was trying her hardest to remain still and looked unmoved by her own mistake. But the look and smile the other gave her could clearly be read as _Oh, what a chatty little thing you are!_

Once again she proved not to be what she’s supposed to be. White Diamond wasn’t seeing her as a proper, high standing example in front of herself. Blue was painfully aware of that. It’s not a reason to hurt or shatter her, but it still made her feel even smaller compared to White, than she already was.

„Yes, she is. She should be reaching you shortly.” one last wide smile for her junior „Well, then. Continue your work.” and so the white screen dissapeared.

I  
I  
I

„My Diamond.” Blue Pearl showed her the status of a yellow spaceship that just closed in to the planet’s satelite, where she was currently sitting on her throne and commanding robonoids.

„Yes, yes I know.” her amethysts were already waiting for her orders, and for warp pads to open. They did the moment Yellow Diamond teleported herself to her moon base. Quick flash of the light dissapeared and there she stood, gold form so contrasting with the room’s dark colour. Blue got used to the blackness of surrounding her surface, not long ago the only different thing was glowing bust of White Diamond. She was thankful that Yellow’s presence didn’t hurt her eyes, unlike their superior’s.

„Hello… Blue.” after some time the General got used to calling her in informal way.

„Hi” Blue only gave her a quick glance and came back to sending warriors to the other’s arm. „I’ve already dispatched the amethysts to you. They should accumulate in the lower part of your ship.” After her faux pas earlier, Blue now wanted to be all but inefficient.

„What? Why would you do that?” Yellow looked at her questioningly. Dark coloured Diamond was a little taken aback.

„Well because… White ordered me to?” she tried to gather why her friend didn’t know about that. „She said you’ll deliver them. Because you’re going to her, aren’t you?”

„Well, yes. But she didn’t tell me anything about other gems.” Yellow face showed a grimace while she was thinking, looking at the data on Blue’s display. „How did she know I was coming here?” she asked quietly after a moment, as if to herself.

„I don’t know. **I** surely didn’t before she told me” Blue smiled uncertainly, questioning look directed on her counterpart. She was now curious what was Yellow’s purpose of coming here if not for the amethysts.

General’s face abandoned the frown and easened. Her eyes widened as if she woke up from a trance.

„Right” she opened bright yellow data screen „I wanted to check with you about your logs that register potentially dangerous astronomical objects directed towards the colony’s path.” she was swiftly clicking buttons while talking. Blue, used to and pleased with the so detailed way of Yellow’s talk, mirrored the action.

„What about them?” She examined her tech reports.

„How far do your technicians’ calculations reach?” she didn’t take her eyes of the screens.

„About thousand million kilometres.”

„Might be beacuse I went a little further, but I recorded an asteroid coming your way. It’s size unimpressing, but the vibrations during the impact could disturb the gems under surface. Their form and capability would surely be affected. Defectiveness inevitable. It- „” Yellow turned quickly and bumped into her counterpart, who, unnoticed by the General came closer to her to have a better look at her data screen. Blue’s hands for a brief second fell on the other’s chestplate and arm. They bothed backed away, and Blue quickly started to regret not having this warm sensation close. It’s been so long since she last felt it.

Yellow took a moment to look at her. She almost felt intimidated by it, but then the other cleared her throat and simply started again.

„It’s certainly not an urgency, but since it’s on my way, I’ll take care of it.” she closed her screens.

„Oh, you’ll destroy it? Thank you!” Blue smiled happily, but hesitated „Is that the only reason you came?” Before she could even hear the answer her face frowned, hands came to fists. She did it again. She was angry at herself. They both have duties, there’s no place for chatting. It’s enough White Diamond sees her as less than proper, it’s going to really hurt her if Yellow does too.

„Yes...” came the slow answer and the General started walking towards the warp pad, surely with the intent to leave.  
Blue turned back to her screens, gritting her teeth. There’s really no more to her purpose than being a perfect ruler. And as perfect she’s only seen by her subordinates. Sure, that’s more than 99% of the gemkind. But the only ones on her level see her only as an addicional part, and that hurt her. She just… she couldn’t help it.

„Are you… alright?” she heard a calm voice. Blue turned and saw Yellow Diamond, standing halfway between her and the teleport. She didn’t yet leave. Blue took a brief notice that their pearls were nowhere to be seen, but she was too agitated to question it.

„Why… y- yes I’m fine.” she tried to give a confident smile, but somehow she couldn’t. And she realized it when Yellow, obviously, didn’t believe her.

„Has White been giving you a hard time?” the honey colored eyes were looking at her knowingly.

The last thing Blue wanted was to complain about their superior. Stars protect she would find out about that, because why would Yellow not tell her? And then the consequences of her flaws wouldn’t be ignored.

„Wha- no. Of course not I-„ but she was interrupted.

„It’s fine.” Yellow smiled lightly „I know it’s not easy.”

 _What?_ Blue was truly suprised. It was Yellow Diamond, who spoke to her about anything other than formalities and duties. Her look gave her a little confidence, but she still wasn’t sure how to answer properly.

„It’s… not her. It’s me, _my_ mistakes.” the other’s head tilt prompted her to continue „I talk too much.”

„She’s difficult to please.” Yellow didn’t stop looking her in the eyes. She was now standing a little closer, just enough not to call it the other side of the room. „Whatever it is you’re doing, might not be such a big issue in general.”

There came a moment of silence. Blue was awestruck internally, but outside she was only thinking how to respond.

„No, it’s… actually true. I ask insignificant questions.” she held her arms and looked away, embarrassed, but hopeful about the conversation.

„What did you ask about?”

 _You_ was the correct answer, but Blue decided to omit it.

„I don’t even remember, but I realize I shouldn’t. I find it hard to control myself sometimes…” there, she said it. She opened herself and shared her problems with someone. Although still hesistant, it felt good to finally get rid of this weight on her nonexistent heart. „And I’m doing it again…” A pale blue hand came to hide her face in shame and annoyance with herself. She just _can’t_ stop talking too much, can she…

„Well…” Yellow once again cleared her throat, and said slowly „I don’t mind it.”

Blue’s head shot up towards the other. She was smiling gently, standing slightly inclined. Blue felt her whole form getting warm at the sight. She felt happy, and her face displayed it clearly.

 _Really?_ She wanted to ask, but she couldn’t find her voice in joy.

„You should **try** to reduce it in White’s presence.” she turned to stand sideways to her now „But if you ever want to… vent this impuls – you can always contact me to… talk” she started walking back towards the warp pad „or ask insignificant questions.”

Blue honestly didn’t know what to say, as she was now filled with euphoria. She wasn’t „wrong”, she just couldn’t yet control her improper urges. But she could now share them with someone, her counterpart! She was even given an official consent! Encouragement! Yellow Diamond actually wasn’t menacing to her like White was. She clearly wanted to help her, to be friendly in every possible way. _It’s so adorable!_ I mean _It’s amazing!_

„Thank you” she managed to say softly. She was smiling ever so gently, but her eyes were visibly shining.

Yellow looked her way, standing on the warp pad, and showed her one last honest smile „You’re welcome.”

The light surrounded her form whole, and when it vanished, so did she.

Blue sighed contentedly. She closed her eyes and grinned widely again. Holding her arms, embraced with this joyus feeling she couldn’t quite place. Before, she feared she was going to be left alone with her problems. That she was going to be alone overall, always. That she would never be able to behave freely in someone else’s presence. But she wasn’t! There was someone who cared about her in more ways that their purpose! And it wasn’t even improper in any way - they were both diamonds! Oh stars, was she happy…

She really was.


	6. Pearls

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pearls have a little conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guys, you can let me know if you'd like me to include some more scenes or interactions with specific characters (within rights, fitting to the story of course). I'm open to suggestions!

„What are you doing?” quiet, smooth voice echoed in the hall once both pearls got out of the room. Yellow Pearl dragged the other by her hand quickly, on her masters order.

„Didn’t you see my Diamond’s look?”

„Yes, but-„

„No buts, she wanted us out of the room. It’s only gonna be a moment, trust me.” Yellow Pearl said and stood at attention, waiting for a silent message from her owner.

„But MY Diamond didn’t tell me to leave.” Blue Pearl insisted. She felt as if she was disobeying.

„Yellow Diamond did, so it’s fine.”

Younger one wasn’t yet convinced. She was looking silently at the small (pearl designed) door, with a worried look on her face.

„Calm down” Yellow Pearl said quietly, seeing the other still troubled „Blue Diamond won’t even notice. You’ll be back in a flash.”

Blue Pearl took a breath, and came to her usual, waiting stance, hands clasped in front of her chest.

„She’s quite… kind” she said after a moment of thought. Yellow Pearl looked at her questioningly „towards my Diamond. I’ve seen her during trials and court meetings. It’s nothing like when they’re alone.” she was now smiling. Her eyes still covered by blue hair.

Yellow Pearl snorted. „Obviously! She’s a phenomenal leader. Whatever she wants she’ll achieve!” she grinned proudly. The adoration for her Diamond was blinding her ability to answer any other way than flattery, even when the recipient wasn’t around.

„And what does she want to achieve?”

Yellow Pearl opened her mouth to answer, but just as quickly, they closed. She looked wide eyed at the other. Thoughts were going through her mind rapidly. All her statements always **had to** be precise. That’s how she presented herself in front of her first and only owner, all her life. But she couldn’t find a specific answer to that. Her Diamond never told her, nor had she this information in her data base.

„To be… on good terms. To be peaceful.” her response has never been so impossible to calculate mathematicaly. So she said the only positive thing that came to her mind. The thing that she hoped to be true. She often thought about how the newest Diamond’s existence would affect her owner. Stars protect they would fight. She (and many other gems) would surely lost their lives in such conditions. But Blue Diamond’s company has so far caused no troubles. Although Yellow Diamond **did** seem to be a little lost in thoughts lately.

„I’m glad they get along.” Blue Pearl was now fully calmed down. The other however was nervous, she realized they were now talking out of formalities. She wasn’t sure whether they were allowed to do that.

„My Diamond is truly spectacular.” continued the younger one.

„My Diamond is most marvelous.” Yellow Pearl thought this was now going to be a match of praising, and she was ready.

„I think she still feels a little self-conscious around other Diamonds.”

And so Yellow Pearl was shocked, horrified by the other’s talk. Did she just spoke about Blue Diamond in informal way? Describing her with something… UNDIGNIFIED!? She felt like they were both going to get shattered by a lightning in the back any moment now. But nothing of the sort happened.

Maybe she was exaggerating? Truth is she never had such a free conversation, because there was no one she could have it with. But… they were in the same boat. There was no other gem who shared their situation, of being the great Diamonds’ assistants. Was it worth a shot?

„She’ll… adapt eventually. My Diamond will always help her.” she felt a little better now that she delivered an answer that was proved truthful. It was in her data base that all gems from the yellow court were at Blue Diamond’s service, whenever she needs it.

Blue Pearl was still smiling to herself, pleased with what was going on in her head.

„It’s really a priveledge to be here. Working so close to a Diamond is an amazing experience!” she looked at Yellow Pearl happily.(Looked, probably, because her eyes were still nowhere to be seen.) „And when they’re together it’s truly… breathtaking.”

„It’s… true.” the other finally smiled too. She couldn’t disagree. Compared to any other gems, as long as they were obedient and proper, the Diamonds’ wrath was never directed their way. Also nobody could ever hurt them, bacause they had immunity. If someone so far laid a finger on them, they would surely meet their owners’ fury. Sure it’s easy to replace a pearl. But it’s not easy to teach her what the masters personally taught her, nor to get used to her new behaviour and pace. HER Diamond certainly wouldn’t like that, Yellow Pearl thought, smiling at the memories.

„How does she treat you?” asked the quiet voice, shaking her out of her trance.

„Rightly.” she said still smiling „She’s not as sinister as others describe her.” It was true. If her Diamond shattered or destroyed, it was always justified, and she had proof in her data base.

„Mine is really nice.” Blue Pearl once again stood at attention.

Yellow Pearl puffed her mouth silently. _Nice_ was not very describing. But after thinking for a moment, she realized maybe it actually was in some way. Blue Diamond certainly was… _softer_ than her Diamond. She was rather calm. Even when she was angry, her looks didn’t always induce fear. The features of her face were smooth… gentle. Diamonds really were the most beautiful creatures that existed.

Of course there were times when this positive sides were abandoned. Both pearls, and many other gems witnessed the Diamonds bringing justice by shattering, and killing. Wars and battles were a normality, obviously. The trials though, were really something. To be a judge takes patience (which Yellow Diamond lacked, but always strived), to listen to attorneys and understand both sides of conflict. Zircons especially (who take an important part of the law court) could sometimes be really annoying. And even the pearls took notice of that. The tense atmosphere was sometimes so terrifying it could make a gem shatter itself.

The moment Yellow Pearl opened her mouth to say something, the gem in the middle of her chest flickered lightly. A message from Yellow Diamond. An order, telling her she was now able to come back. She opened the door, but before she threw herself running, she whispered hesitantly: „See you”, to her new friend.  
While jumping on the warp pad right next to Yellow Diamond’s boot she heard the so familliar, strong voice say: „You’re welcome.” She only could get a glimpse of Blue Diamond’s form, before the light blocked the view.

Blue Pearl quietly sneaked back the place where she stood before. The worry about her owner being angry vanished instantly when she saw the expression on her face. Yellow Pearl was right, she clearly wasn’t concerned about her dissapearance. _Oh thank the stars._ What came to her attention more though, was Blue Diamond’s smile. Visible happiness that made her eyes shine. She was lost in her thoughts.

„My Diamond…” Blue Pearl without consideration attempted to bring the ruler back from trance. Her Diamond looked at her still smiling, but without real focus.  
„Did something good happen?” small assistant returned the smile. They’ve always been on rather friendly terms. She was happy for her whenever she got the chance.

Blue Diamond eventually gathered herself up. The ease that appeared on her face had a silent confirmation in it.

„Let’s get back to work.” she turned to the screen display and started clicking buttons. Her small friend came to her own desk and mirrored the action.


	7. Why, White?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yellow reflects on the troubles she has with her superior.

The sound of little ground objects and meteorites smashing on the outside of the thick window glass, was the only thing that disturbed the silence in yellow ship’s control room. High speed of the enormous machine let nothing to be seen behind it, other than blurred shapes and unidentified small light sources. The coordinates had been put in a long time ago. They’ve been flying for a few good days.

Yellow Diamond was sitting on her throne, quietly checking all the screens in front of her. She’s been searching for anything to get her mind occupied, but so far it proved fruitless. Under recent stressing conditions she was unconsciously working at turbo speed, and before she realized it, she had nothing really important left to do. And she couldn’t believe it. All that could be done from her space ship was completed. She wished she was somewhere else right now. Her Homeworld laboratory, her experimental workshop, engine testing field on planet CR-147, or literally any of the colonies under her rulage. Being in any of these places would be much more beneficial. But no. White had to come up with an idea of suddenly needing her somewhere in the other half of the galaxy. It propably wasn’t even anything requiring her presence (she was lying to herself), but just what could she do under her superior’s wish? Now all she had were irrelevant cyclic messages from some of her court gems.

 _I need to have a lab built somewhere in the bottom hull._ She thought. This boredom was something she wasn’t used to. She really shouldnt’ve rushed her workload earlier. At least her visit on the moon delayed it a little, giving her some more time with her reports. Right, the moon.

 _How did White know I was going there?_ Yellow has set the route without informing anyone. Did someone notified her upon relizing it? No… She doesn’t listen, nor trust lower type gems unless they were asked. Did a sapphire tell her? There’s no reason she wouldn’t have at least one. Or maybe she could just tell herself? Her power doesn’t really have limits after all…

Yellow sighed. Countless times already White Diamond proved to be unpredictable. She remembered the first time she was summoned to a rare, isolated planet. No explanation, just that her presence was required.

I  
I  
I

The planet was big, had a blueish green colour in general. There were creatures on it - some unorganic beasts lacking intelligence. Four legged with sharp teeth. Shorter than a diamond, but if standing on two paws, some could reach Yellow’s height. They were very hostile, it could be stated just by looking at their stance and loud growling. Few dozen gem shards could be seen from where Yellow stood next to White, looking at these… animals from a high ground they couldn’t reach.

She was told to defeat them, without killing.

„What?” Yellow was seriously suprised. White was just softly smiling, looking at the view below.

„White. Why?” she got her attention.

„Just try.”

 _TRY!?_ Why? What reason? What purpose does it have? But Yellow obediently came down the hill. The beasts were spread around, forming no herd. She approached the first one… and failed. She came to the second… which also died quickly, choking in her strong hold. It was ridiculous, she didn’t even have to use her powers. What did White want do achieve? She had no choice but to kill the other three that jumped on her at the same time. She hoped one of them survived, watching it for a few minutes, but it soon stopped breathing.

Yellow cornered the next one, this time restraining from fatal blows. The beast bit into her forearm, and held tightly. Gems weren’t supposed to feel pain, but somehow seeing the sharp teeth tear her glove and go deeper into her form hurt her. She opened its mouth and threw it away. The creature however came back attacking her. She caught it again and pinned it into the ground with her boot. It didn’t stop wriggling and snarling at her. Was that considered win? No. It was merely a capture.

Yellow saw White Diamond closing to her with a corner of her eye. She was watching her and the beast carefully.

The creature somehow freed ungracefully, and threw itself her way. The General opened lightning inside her palm, and it joined the silver flash that appeared in the air, cutting the animal in half. Both Diamonds looked at their act.

„See, sometimes… there’s just no other way.” White said quietly. Unintelligent life forms like these, rarely ended differently.

Yellow just watched the smoking corpse with anger displayed on her face.

„They even attacked you first.” continued White as if reading her thoughts „And they didn’t have to.”

The other Diamond turned around, searching. She would never attempt to do something that is impossible. It’s time wasting and useless in every way. Why did she try then? There had to be another method.

She made her way further away. Barely aware that White followed her from a significant distance. Yellow was walking for quite some time, before she found an isolated ground. There was a beast there too, surely unaware of what happened some time ago to its kind. Yellow slowed down her pace, making sure that the animal acknowledges her presence. It did. And it watched her carefully when she stopped. Their eye contact didn’t break for several minutes. The Diamond finally moved forward, bent low, hand in front of her chest, _slowly._ She wasn’t even sure what was she doing. It just… came to her mind.

The creature didn’t move, didn’t blink. Yellow managed to get close to be a dozen steps away when it stood up abruptly. She stopped once again, and came down on one knee. What was she waiting for? After some time the animal lowered its head, and made a step towards her. She made one too, very slowly, still lowered. She raised her hand further, as if reaching for something. The beast approached, standing now about three steps from her. It started moving its nose, _smelling_. Closing in to her palm with its snout. It dabbed her fingers delicately. Eventually laying its ears and licking her hand. She smiled to herself. She had no idea how it happened, but the creature somehow lost its hostility completely. She happily let it close in to her chest, stroking its head and neck for no particular reason. Its fur was rather rough, but it felt like sealing a pact.

Then out of nowhere a white light appeared from behind her back. A flash of magic hit the animal, and threw it straight into the stone wall next to her. She didn’t even have to check. The creature was certainly dead.

„What are you doing!?” she asked angrily.

„It was going for your gem, sunlight…” White looked exceptionally worried, coming close to her junior.

„No it wasn’t.” Yellow was dissapointed that her act turned to be now pointless „I-„ she was interrupted by White putting her hand on a yellow cheek.

„Oh Yellow…” she was looking her in the eyes „You know I could never let you get hurt…” her expression calmed down. In that moment she was gentle, but there was something unreadable in her eyes.

I  
I  
I

To this day Yellow didn’t understand what had happened on this planet. Not entirely at least. She never ler herself waste time on thinking about it. But wasn’t she doing it just now? _Eh…_

Yellow’s thoughts headed towards her counterpart. Stars, she really envied her right now. Blue was now probably somewhere in the middle of superintending her gems’ emergence. Her hands were surely full. And Yellow was here, feeling useless and nervous.

Yellow space ship closed to the ground with a loud commotion. It quickly went quiet after the General turned the engine off. Coming out of it she headed White’s ship way (that was settled nearby), but she passed it when she saw the Diamond herself standing further away. Yellow briefly took in the planet’s formation. The ground was made of a red stone, which reached beyond the horizon. Spread in some places were heavy and unmoving rocks. There was no wind, and the temperature was very high. No life spotted yet. Basically a desert.

Both Diamonds were standing in silence next to each other, looking at the view before them. A notably large lake of lava was breathing smoke and shining. A few various gems were spread around its coast, either calculating on their pads or just watching.

„The main planting engine fell in. The stone couldn’t support its weight.” White said finally. Yellow supposed that the gems responsible for overseeing this weren’t on this planet anymore.

„Its casing is surely destroyed, but the capsule holding gem seeds and energy can’t be broken. It’s temperature proof after all.” small smile appeared on her face for a second. Yellow designed it herself, and for a moment she thought that it was a smile of pride. But she still wasn’t sure why did White summon her.

„No gem can reach it.” _Why?_ _The melting point of the gems White gathered here didn’t exceed 1800°C, but the lava’s temperature couldn’t be more than 1400°C. A proper fusion could be able to lift the objective._ „Because of the planet’s small size, the bottom of the lake is dangerously near the lower mantle.” _Oh, fair enough - the heat so deep would be about 3000°C…_

Yellow studied the surface of the pool. The steam didn’t allow the opposite shore to be seen. The layer of rockhard ground was broken, full of cracks and holes everywhere around them. No wonder it collapsed beneath the engine. So what is she to do? Quickly build another one? Since the energy can not be recovered, they have to store a new source. It might take some time to-

„It was quite a load.” White interrupted her train of thoughts. She looked down at her meaningly. „We need to get it back.”

 _I realize_ , Yellow thought. What can she create? A machine big enough to lift the objective, strong enough to hold the amount of pressure and temperature, and controllable? _That’s quite an effort and resource consuming project._ Not really worth it.

She looked at White once again to ask about it, and noted that her superior didn’t take her eyes off of her even for a second. Her expression showed a displeasure, but also certitude about what has to be done. Yellow examined her intense gaze carefully. And then it hit her-

_Right…_

_The melting point of a diamond is 4000°C._


	8. The task

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yellow is obedient.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My humble art at the end :3  
> You can check out more of my stuff on my tumblr: https://edithvanhopper.tumblr.com/

_I’m sorry I have to ask you to do this_ , White thought. The way Yellow was looking at her when she realized what she meant, pained her. She knew it’s not within her junior’s responsibilities. She tried everything else to retrieve the energy source, but it was fruitless. The sole objective wasn’t the most valuable thing in the universe, but losing it was such a waste and bother. If they didn’t get it back it would just… stay there forever? Be useless and wasted. It would be a huge prodigality to leave it, especially while knowing that there **is** a way to retrieve it.

And that way was… well…

If White was to go get it herself, she would have to leave all the gems on surface unsupervised. Something unthinkable, particularly since they were to do nothing until she got back. Even more so that it was their mistake the problem occurred! Oh was she furious with them! Of course the specific ones that were at fault were either shattered or abandoned somewhere in space – she made sure of that. But her anger came back when she realized what she asks Yellow to do.

Gems don’t feel physical pain, but they feel what is happening to their form. Although made of light, it can be very sensory. That’s how they realize when they were (for example) pierced with a sword or exposed to extreme temperature. And it’s not pleasant. White was aware of that.

To get to the bottom Yellow must overcome the distance of few good kilometres. Lava was effortless, but the lower mantle? It’s like swimming in ocean of solid rocks, and each of them weights more than a ton, to say nothing of the preassure and heat – that melts all the other gems with ease. Admittedly she was physically capable of doing that. But it wasn’t something diamonds were designed for. Moreover, finding yourself in an environment where you can hardly move, can’t see and can rely only on your instinct and hardly sense of touch, was surely a terrible experience. Not to mention near deadly, if she was to go too far.

White hasn’t realized it before Yellow actually arrived, but she has never, in her entire existance, felt so bad about giving an order.

The second Diamond didn’t say a word. With an unreadable look on her face she headed towards the place where the engine collapsed. It was marked by a noticeably broken pieces of stone and shape. _Never a delay with her_ … White thought with a feeling she couldn’t quite place. She watched the other go straight into the lake, and dissapear under the layer of red glow.

At that moment she felt weird. Something very unpleasant inside her revealed its presence. She could hear and see some of the nearest gems reacting with awe and intently looking into the place where their superior was a second ago. She ignored the unwanted intruder.  
After quite some time, White and her subordinates unmoved on watch, felt a vast earthquake beneath the ground they were standing on. Yellow got to the bottom. Everyone on the surface didn’t take their eyes off the lava pool.

Another hour passed when she heard a quiet voice coming from below.

„My Diamond,” she saw her leading Peridot doing a respectful salute „Yellow Diamond’s storage bubble appeared inside your control room.” the small gem was catching her breath, surely she ran here from the ship, not wanting to contact her through the communicator. _Wisely,_ since she probably wouldn’t answer it. She kept looking into the lake, waiting. The very uncomfortable feeling filling the chest of her form kept on bothering her. She didn’t know what it was, and at all cost wanted it to go away. But she’ll deal with it after Yellow comes back…

The time seemed to be frozen in place until everyone heard a loud commotion. The layer of steam rised up as the big, shining form emerged from the burning surface. All gems turned and approached the edge to be able to see clearly. The sight of grand Yellow Diamond coming up from the lake of lava was a one in a life time eperience for many of them.

She supported herself on some protruding sharp boulders and headed towards White, walking now in the shallow of the lake. The lava was going down her body quickly, revealing her shining, gold armor.

The unpleasant feeling left White this very moment. She was glad. Even when she saw the look in Yellow’s eyes once she came close. There was certainly some… disturbance in them. But the Diamond stood proudly.

„I sent the source to your ship.” she said quietly. The task she completed must’ve weakened her sense of hearing, and she didn’t want to be unnecessarily shouting.

„Well done.” answered White at (surprisingly) similar volume. Her usual demeanor came back however, when she adressed gems gathered around them. It was a wonder how they were looking straight at two of their highest rulers – the brightest of all, one still shining from the heat she bathed in – and they weren’t blinded.

„Get back to your positions. Restart from the last recorded assignment.” All scattered in different directions, leaving the two Diamonds in privacy for a moment.

„The core is unstable.” said Yellow, not facing her superior this time, but looking staight ahead.

„I know. My peridots are leading the move out at the moment.” _Of course she noticed._ Yellow realized the composition inside the planet is faulty. Best case scenario - it would harm the making of gems put in a kindergarten, worst – the whole globe would break in two, or blow up completely. Not a proper place to begin colonization.

„It could’ve exploded.” White noted the discreet frown on her yellow face. She wanted to end the conversation here, but then she realized what the other meant.

„Oh, no, no…” she stated calmly „I had it under control while you were down there. There was no need for my involvement though, since so far the core appears to be dormant.”  
Yellow looked at her once more before she turned and started walking back. But White saw what she had in her eyes. She was clearly upset, hiding the pain and fear she felt well from the world, but not from her superior.

„Yellow…” she put her hand on the armored shoulder. She felt a harsh prickling sensation accompanied with a heat so strong it felt cold. Smoke started coming up from the place of contact, but she didn’t take her hand away. The other turned to face her, still the same expression on her face.

„You know I could never let you get hurt.”

Yellow just stared at her for a long moment. „Do you need anything else from me?” she asked slowly. White reviewed the data she had received up till now. The amethysts she ordered were already placed in their positions.

„No,” she put her hand away „that would be all.” With the corner of her eye she watched Yellow walk back to her ship. She smiled lightly. Everything proceeded as she planed. And it’s thanks to her junior being obedient and loyal to her. Never so far caused any trouble. Just as White wanted. That’s how she was made. Right beneath the highest standing one - in her image. It could be even told by parts of their appearance - the spiky hair or the rigid, sharp shoulder pads.

  
White didn’t realize it right away, but she felt proud at that moment.

I  
I  
I

„The gathered amethysts have been transfer-„

„Thank you, Pearl. You can leave for now.” Yellow Diamond only just got on the ship. She interrupted her Pearl, and saw her get out of the room while she was uploading the coordinates and turning the auto pilot on. Once she was surely alone, the artificial intelligence was running and the ship got off the ground – she sat heavily on the throne, put her head in her hands and held tightly.

She closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. _The lower mantle_ … Stars, she was not prepared mentally for that. The high noise she could not get rid of was still deafening her even now. She could barely hear what White was saying to her.

The pressure so deep caused her whole form to vibrate. She managed to conceal it in front of her superior and other gems, but she let the stress out now. One of her legs started jumping up and down without control. Her hands were shaking. She could only calm it a little by tensing her whole body and putting them on her arms instead. She held herself closely, trying to pull herself together.

She was still hot, her form felt stinging sensation. She was used to warmth and heat, but not to thousands of blades cutting through her all at once for few hours nonstop. That’s how it felt being under so much stress, in the temperature so close to the gem’s melting point. It’s wasn’t pain.

It’s wasn’t pain, but it was so, so very unpleasant.

So very distressing…

The yellow spaceship was flying for several hours now, when the General could say her struggle calmed down almost completely. Only her temperature was yet to decrease.  
Suddenly, a memory came to her mind. A memory of cool, smooth hands touching her chestplate and arms. Yellow started thinking of Blue’s touch. The younger Diamond’s colour and power made the air around her chilly. It would surely help Yellow cool down now. It would help her get rid off this obnoxious sensation that still accompanied her body…

She shook her head and massaged her temples. Such thinking is pointless… She’ll recover fully before she even reaches halfway up to Homeworld. And Blue is much further away. Besides… it’s not like even if she was right here with her, she could actually **do** anything of sort-

Yellow wiped her face with her palm firmly. She needs to keep her mind busy. It started putting strange thoughts into her head. Regained her usual, intimidating demeanor she came back to handling raports and sending orders around the galaxy. Finally something can be done, at least for the preparation on her arrival to the colonies.  
She sighed one more time, summarizing what has happened today.

_Well, I’m surely not gonna use my sauna for a while…_

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you tell what White felt?


	9. Drawing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue wants to call Yellow.

„Splendid execution, my Diamond!” Blue Zircon bend low with a confident grin. The trial just ended. She had to carry it through herself. Already a few dozen years she’s been dealing with her newest colony, on a small FY-129 satelite. Oh the process was exceptionally tiring. Some of her gems refused to follow orders for no smart reason. It caused a ruckus amongst her gardeners. Her soldiers were starting fights with them, trying to persuade them to rebel. Of course it wasn’t well received, and so in the whole commotion several gems lost their lives. And then several other, when she had to bring them to justice. Such a waste really. A waste of her time.

Blue Diamond only send an angry look towards the lawyer. She noticed her flinch under it. „I’ll take my leave for now” she said almost whispering and dissapeared from her sight. Blue had to yet fill some folders, so she stayed sitting on her throne in the empty now courtroom. Only her Pearl was with her at her usual spectator desk.

Blue was almost finnished with her statement, when she shot a quick glance at her small assistant. Something drew her attention, quite suddenly shaking her out of her calm.

„What is that!?” she leant down, startling her Pearl and scaring her almost to death. She nearly fell, dropping her hands and with this, making the object of the Diamond’s interest dissapear from her small screens.

„Wha- n- nothing, my Diamond I was just-„

„Why was Yellow Diamond on your screen?” Blue interrupted her with an angry frown. It certainly terrified her Pearl, as she could see her try to keep from shaking. As much as her owner was shocked, she was also curious, but that wasn’t so visible.

„I…” the Pearl was letting out quick breaths, as she couldn’t really find proper words. Well, _there is no way out of this, since she already saw me…_ she thought. She opened her previous screen and hesitantly directed it for her Diamond to see.

It showed an image of Yellod Diamond’s bust, with some little stains around, which Blue couldn’t identify. It certainly was not a photograph, which would be illegal for her Pearl to take without permission, nor it was a video call, which would be outrageous, so that calmed Blue down.

„I… drew it.” said the assistant quietly with a shaking voice, answering to a quiestioning look from the ruler. „I apologize, my Diamond. I wasn’t thinking. This will never happen again I-„ she flinched when she saw Blue Diamond’s hand reach down, thinking she was going for her. But it gently grabbed the screen she showed instead. „Please… I ask for forgiveness…” she bent her head as low as she could. Expecting to get screamed at or shattered at once. Just what was she thinking to-

„It’s quite… pleasing.” her head shot up instantly. She saw her Diamond smiling at the drawing. She grasped she corner of her desk to hold herself, because her legs suddenly felt weak at the unexpected, slight relief.

„Did you draw this during a trial?”

„Y-yes.” now standind at diamond salute, respectfully answering.

„Hmm…” blue hand moved the picture to the side, and another one appeared. Blue saw her Pearl flinch again. Second drawing showed a Blue Zircon, the one who she had to be dealing with today. It was a caricature, showing her with too big head and mouth, and a very small torso. Blue let out a chuckle. It was quite accurate, as this specific gem was definitely loud and garrulous.

„Do you always draw during court cases?” she asked now not feeling any anger anymore. She slided to the next picture, that showed her own profile. She took a moment to appreciate it. It wasn’t perfect, no, but she still liked it.

„Only when I’m not involved.” Blue Pearl stated loudly. Quite a reason, since she is never involved in the trial. Pearls usually don’t have any purpose at this times, other than just being there with their owners. Blue was aware of that.

She came back to the first drawing. Yellow Diamond had a serious expression on her face, eyes [obviously] filled with yellow colour. Stars… she misses those eyes. When was the last time they’ve spoken? A hundred years at least. She was too busy to call her, and too skilful to need her help. Of course there also came her concern that maybe her counterpart is too occupied to talk to her too.

„My Diamond, this will never happ-„

„Oh no.” Blue interrupted her with a light smile „I don’t mind it.” she saw her Pearl open her mouth in surprise. One last time she took in the sight of the other Diamond, and closed the screen, giving it back to her assistant. „I allow you to keep doing it.” There really was no harm in letting her draw when she had no other task assigned. „Provided that you won’t let it distract you from your work.” she added faking her sternness, but the smile she kept on sold her out.

„I…” Blue Pearl took the screen of her hands „Thank you,” she held it closely to her chest „my Diamond.”

I  
I  
I

Few hours passed when Blue finished most important of her fomalities. She dismissed her Pearl temporarily, since she had a call to make.

Back in her control room the Diamond made sure everything is taken care of, so that she won’t be unnecessarily interrupted. But when she finally had the opportunity to call, she started feeling hesitant. _She… must be very busy._ Few thousands years showed her how Yellow Diamond works – ceaselessly. It was partly why she was so impatient (especially during trials). She always had something on her mind. Always something to do. She never let herself take any break, or get rest. In some measure it was why Blue admired and respected her so deeply. But right now it only filled her with sadness. They barely got to see each other. Of course it wasn’t proper for them to meet without any formal reason. Also, just _what would we even do?_

Blue disregarded the last thought. But… calling was not wrong. No! That’s what the communicator was for, having a **diamond line** nevertheless. She took out her hand to push the button, but stopped.

 _What reason do I have to call?_ How would she even start the conversation? Assuming that Yellow would even pick up, and have time to talk to her. And what if she has time, but doesn’t want to? Of course, why would she, if Blue doesn’t have any important subject. Because only such would Yellow accept.

Suddenly she remembered something. _„You can always contact me”_ is what Yellow once said to her. It really boosted her confidence back then, but ever since, they haven’t really got the chance to actually talk outside of their duties. Blue really regreted it.

Still. She’s not called the youngest Diamond anymore (or at least she thinks so). They’re both on the same level, so it doesn’t hurt to try, right? What’s the worse that could happen – would she get reprimanded? Unheard of. She would never let any gem do that and-

She shook her head and came to her senses. She was unnecessarily getting worked up. Yellow has never done anything of sort to her, and she wouldn’t. Blue just couldn’t imagine it. Well… of course she **could** , but that thought was highly criticised in her head. It was simply very unlikely. And… hurtful.

After few more minutes, when she gathered her confident demeanor, she finally pushed the button. To her suprise she didn’t have to wait more than 3 seconds. Yellow picked up quickly and appeared in front of the other, looking a little concerned.

„Blue, is everything alright?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for cutting it like that, but I cant have the chapters too long, and I'm already working on the next one!


	10. Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue talks to Yellow, and is reassured.

Blue took a moment to appreciate the shining gold that she hasn’t seen in a long while. But answered without delay: „Yes, of course.” she smiled while saying it but the expression wavered, taking place by a uncertain frown. „Why?”

She could see Yellow’s face easened when she straightened herself. „You have rioters on the planet.” the General stood sideways to her, working on the tech screens. „Quite a damage they’ve caused.”

„Yes” she sighed tiredly „Of course I have everything under control, but still - it’s such a bother.” She found her problems to be a good subject. She was now taking in the sight of her counterpart. She didn’t change at all since she last saw her. [Why would she] Looking so proud, strong, with the shining armor on her chest. Blue watched her with a contented smile. Finally something contrasted with the dull colors around her. No gem was more yellow than she was.

„Last gem you executed was an amethyst. Facet-6 Cut-3RH correct?” she was talking calmly.

„Precisely.” Blue, again, was taken aback „How do you know that?”

Yellow looked at her with an unreadable expression. „From your statement.”

„I send it a mere hour ago.” Blue was a little suprised. Their raports were simply a formal record of what actions are taken and situations that occur. They didn’t usually got checked without need, not by any other gem, nor by any other diamond (or at least she thought so).

„I’m up-to-date.” Yellow said withour taking her eyes off the screens she was handling.

Was Yellow following her progress? Why? Is she supervising her? After all this years she doesn’t believe in her or something? How could she!? Maybe White told her to do it-

„…Blue?”

 _No._ Stars, just what is this jumping to conclusions. Yellow doesn’t let anything get out of her workload. It would be no suprise if she was checking literally every statement ever sent in the system.

„Blue?” The louder voice shook her out of her thoughts. The other Diamond now had all attention directed on her. Her hands were lowered, unmoving, and she was looking at her carefully.

„Yes?”

„I asked why did you call me.” she said, her position unaltered. Her expression was gentle, she didn’t look like she was annoyed yet. It calmed Blue down a little.

„Oh, I-„ she interrupted herself. _I missed you._ She almost said. It’s… not proper for a diamond. She opened her mouth to start again „I wanted to-„ but she couldn’t finnish. … _see you?_

_What!?_

Was that why she called? For no reason whatsoever? Why didn’t she think it through? It’s so inappropriate! Blue didn’t even notice when her cheeks started to darken. _Oh stars, oh no…_ Her mind went blank. She couldn’t find any excuse. Couldn’t find any cause. All of them seemed to be too irrelevant to bring up.

„Talk?” Yellow asked quietly. Blue looked at her hesitantly. _She remembered…_

She smiled shyly. Couldn’t stand the thought of an awkward silence that would accompany them for the next few moments. And then she heard something on the other side of the video call.

„What is that?” she was ready to take on any possible subject „That noise?”

Yellow looked around herself. Her eyes stopped on something further in front of her. „Oh, it’s rain.” she stated.

„Rain? Oh, right. You have a warm climate there.” The planet Yellow Diamond was currently staying on was indeed warm. Especially compared to hers.

„Yes. It’s quite an inconvenience.” the General sighed „Turns ground into mud. The injectors can not be successfully planted. All the kindergarteners can do now is wait for it to stop.”

Oh, so that’s why she’s not in a rush. Not being able to inspect the gems’ work gives her time to talk. Blue was glad.

„Huh, I’ve never seen it.” she smiled, happy that the conversation was in place. Yellow looked at her suprised.

„Rain?”

„Yes. Obviously I know how it works,” she marked out „but seeing it – no. It’s not common on the planets I visited.” Most of the things falling from the skies there were frozen.

The older Diamond was looking at her wide eyed for a moment. Then as if she was considering what she is going to say, moved her hand towards some buttons.

„Well, let me show you.”

She dissapeared from Blue’s sight, and in her place appeared a view of a landscape. The sky was grey, no sun sticked out from behind the clouds. She could see a big meadow, surrounded by high, green, organic ‘plants’. There were many colorful spots in the grass, _flowers_. The whole (live) video accompanied a pitter patter of millions of droplets falling from the sky. It was rather… soothing.

The video changed to a different one. A big reservoir of water, like a huge, blue carpet, was spreading far beyond the horizon. And on its surface were incessantly appearing rings, from being hit by rain drops. The whole area looked like it was constantly moving, in the rhythm of the sound this shower made.

Next view was a section of a kindergarten. Blue could see the nearest injector being covered by wetness. The water was running down its glass parts, instantly being replaced by another layer. It made the construstion shine, cleaning all the dirt from it.

Blue smiled again when Yellow showed up back in front of her.

„Like I said – inconvenience.” she said boredly.

„Surely. Still, it looks enjoyable.” Blue said cheerfully. She actually liked what she saw. This kind of experience, especially when not in any way dangerous, was rather pleasing.

She was primarily grateful, and flattered that the other took time to show it to her, and even personally picked the specific, pretty videos herself – which was not in her duties, making it even more benevolent.

„It’s cold, so you’d probably like it.” said Yellow still looking at the screens in front of her.

„Huh, why would I?” Blue said, teasingly smiling.

The other Diamond looked at her caught off guard. For a moment she was tasting the words in her mouth.

„Well because… you’re a cold colour.” her frowned questioningly. Oh, _she looks so innocent_ , not being sure what to say, and for any price trying not to accidentally insult, or upset Blue. But she just kept smiling, with an evilish look in her eyes.

„And that means I’m presumed to like cold?” she found joy in teasing Yellow, without realizing how actually worried it made her.

„Supposedly, yes?” she asked, looking up at her, waiting for verification. She was actually curious.

„Well, I guess I don’t **mind** it, but… I’m very fond of warmth too.” Blue was now unconsciously ogling the other. Yellow snickered, looking away.

„Then you should get **inside** my sauna some day.” she smiled, showing her teeth.

Blue huffed. „I said warmth, not heat.” she chuckled, which turned into small laughter when she joined Yellow in it. Blue was very aware of how hot it was in the other’s extraction chamber, but she was avoiding it for a different reason.

They fell silent for a moment, Blue didn’t know how to continue the conversation. She didn’t like the fact that the sound of rain was slowly going down.

„I guess we’re soon going to have to return to Homeworld.” said Yellow freely.

„We are?” asked Blue without thinking. The other looked at her suprised, again.

„Yes. For the ball? There’s going to be a celebration of another diamonds’ success. You know – the colonies, our last war?” They won their last war, yes.

„Oh, stars, right! I completely forgot about that!” she put her hand up to her cheek. All the celebrations were spaced apart in time, and White always calls them in unpredictable seasons. Nevertheless, they were forever grand.

„Oh, I’m glad” she smiled „I haven’t seen you in so long.” The moment Blue said it she cursed herself. Why did she stop thinking for a moment!? It’s such an unfit behaviour!

„Yes, I’ve missed you too.” _Huh?_

_Huh?_

„Really?” Blue asked hesitantly. Yellow missed her? Like she missed Yellow? And she said it like it was nothing!? Blue thought it was inapropriate to say for a Diamond.

„Naturally. It’s not often we can talk to someone without looking down at them.” said Yellow „Literally.” she added under her breath. Her eyes were constantly jumpig from one tech screen to another.

Blue giggled. „Right.” _Of course!_ That’s why she misses her. So long without the presence of someone on her level can really be exausting. She’s been being a leader for a few thousand years nonstop. Administering gems’ work, ruling, giving orders – all without any supervision, nor a possibility to debate – she **can** be tired of it. _So it’s normal._

„I miss you too.” she smiled warmly.

Yellow returned the gesture looking up at her. She opened her mouth to say something else, but was interrupted by something Blue didn’t see from her eyeshot. The General frowned.

„I have to go.” her stern face returned. She only briefly turned to Blue to finnish „I’m sorry, we’ll talk later. On Homeworld perhaps.” she stopped before pushing the button to end the call. Her mannierism didn’t allow her to simply hang up on the Diamond without the confirmation.

„Surely.” said Blue, aware of it. And she smiled weakly at the dissapearing screen.

She was dissapointed that it ended so quickly, but understood the situation. Still, they talked, and that lifted Blue’s spirits. Even more so now that she remembers they’re going to see each other soon in person.

Blue turned back to her own workload. Things need to be done _._

She was accompanied by a feeling of relief. Turns out it wasn’t improper for her to miss Yellow. It is only natural, and she explained it distinctly. Maybe they didn’t have to be so deprived of such emotions, like she used to think.

_It’s natural…_  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Is Blue right?  
> Maybe, but what if she is interpreting her feelings differently?


	11. Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yellow visits Blue on Homeworld.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry it took me so long.  
> But believe me it was worth the wait!  
> Enjoy ;D

The bright greyish room was filled with diamond chords when two of them were standing so close to each other. Yellow was studying a large screen laying flatly in front of her, showing a modest sketch of a project. Her hands were graspeg on both sides of the white desk when she was looking down at it. The appearance of this weapon was not relevant, as long as it was usable.

„And?” White interrupted her train of thoughts „Can you make it?”

Yellow looked at her almost insulted „Of course I can.” she was irritated by her superior’s light hearted attitude. But, certainly it was better than her usual disquieting aura.

They moved to her palace after the formal part of the ball. It was a stately, beautiful and loud ceremony. All three Diamonds present, was like an energy shot for the gems. Their singing and dancing for the rulers was undoubtedly noteworthy. Yet even though Yellow knew that, she still felt like it was not where she’d rather be. She had work to do. She always has. At least the more convivial part of the celebration could be left for the gems without the diamonds. She followed White on her request.

„Good, good.” she smiled cheerfuly. Such a rare sight. She looked like she was at ease.

Yellow just sighed and folded the display. She didn’t really have time to get to it right away. But it’s not a pressing matter, just a modification for the army. Which was not active at the moment.

She headed towards the exit.

„You’re done with the celebrating already?”

Yellow looked her way from behind her shoulder „I have work to do.” she said truthfully. Why would she lie? Ever to White?

The superior gem just noded still smiling knowingly, giving Yellow a silent permission to go.

The General sighed after reaching a suitable distance away from the other’s palace. The whole ceremony bored her. Sitting next to White, bearing her teasing, with the accompaniment of lickspittles throwing compliments and getting ever too close to crossing the line. Thank the stars she was strong enough to endure it. Watching hundreds of other gems dance and sing wasn’t that bad. At one point it even became mesmerizing.

Yellow wasn’t able to look at White without getting her attention on her, which would result in her attempting to chat happily, to what the General wasn’t eager. She could however see Blue, and was suprised to note that her enthusiasm matched their superior’s. Except her aura was not… mischievous like hers. She was smiling joyfully, more so when she was looking Yellow’s way. She clearly enjoyed the ball. Indeed all their gems were representing them proudly.

Yellow was glad that at least the two other Diamonds were pleased.

She thought about her last conversation with Blue. During the celebration, although they spend so many hours next to each other, they couldn’t exchange more than few words. She was slightly bugged by it, since she implied a promise they’d talk, during this last video call. And Yellow Diamond was not someone to make empty promises. Stars protect Blue Diamond would consider it significant, and would think less of her because of it.

She headed towards the blue palace. Didn’t exacly have a lot of time for that, but there are important, and more important things. Yellow was a proper diamond (but lowkey she hoped the other ruler called it off).

While she was walking to a warp pad (cause the stroll would cause all the gems to jump on her in adoration), she remembered that Blue was talking to White for a moment, during the finnish of their presence at the ball. Yellow was standing further from them, getting worshipped by aquamarines. (She noted that gems from blue court were somewhat more bold than hers, in attempting to gain her appreciation. Some were really good (although inappropriate) philanderers. Yellow supposed it’s because they don’t spend as much time with her, nor in her confidence, so they weren’t so intimidated.)

Anyway, she couldn’t hear what they were talking about. Nor was she able to see their faces, but it was the last time she saw Blue at the ball, since she hurriedly dissapeared right after it, and Yellow went with White.

She thought maybe it’s not a good idea to visit now. White Diamond might’ve given Blue a job to do, so the dark coloured ruler is probably busy. However Yellow was in no place to ponder about it. Her conscience had to be clean. If that were the case she’s just gonna leave.

On her way from the blue warp pad (placed the closest to Blue Diamond’s control room, except the one inside it), she stumbled upon few gems, and briefly noted that they were crying. Yellow didn’t think much of it, since it didn’t concern her. Plus they were probably just overwhelmed by the audience with the other diamond. It wasn’t uncommon.  
Her attitude however changed when all the other gems she passed were crying as well. Moreover, some looked like they were hurting. Even Blue Agates were holding on to their gems, grasping them as if they were going to break, with tears flowing from their eyes freely.

_Oh no…_ Yellow speeded up her pace. She knew what Blue Diamond’s power was. She wasn’t often in this state, but whenever she was sad, angry, or in any way troubled, tears she shed became the tears of everyone around her. If strong enough or too close, it could shatter, easily. Yellow thought it probably wasn’t her place to intrude. That maybe she’s not welcome at the moment. But somehow, despite knowing that, she didn’t stop. She wanted to avoid seeing gem shards scattered all over the hallway.

When she got close to the main door, she felt her own eyes becoming wet. She wiped them, but it came again. _Tears…_ she looked at her watery hand. She wasn’t used to them, and she didn’t like them. They blurred her vision.

She stepped inside, the door closing behind her. This sound and her diamond chord drew Blue Diamond’s attention on her. But she only briefly looked her way and turned back, hands covering her face.

„Yellow…” she breathed, acknowledging her „Wh- What are you doing here?” she was trying to wipe the tears of her face.

„What happened?” the General approched her, speaking quietly. With the corner of her eye she saw Blue Pearl’s gem laying on the floor. At least it wasn’t shattered…

„Nothing.” Blue sniffed, slowly trying to regain her composure „I was just angry.”

„With whom?” Yellow stopped at an appropriate distance, not wanting to make the other feel too uncomfortable. She doubted that (guessing from the only gem in the room besides them) it was Blue Pearl who provoked her so much. _She cries just because she’s angry?_ Yellow didn’t believe that. But she felt the tears on her own cheeks started to slow down their way.

„It’s… nothing, real- „ Blue turned to give a fake, reassuring smile, but it vanished immediately when she layed eyes on Yellow. It startled the General when the Diamond suddenly threw herself her way.

„Oh, my stars I’m so sorry!” Blue grasped her by the shoulders „Did I hurt you? I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to!” tears in both their eyes began flowing heavily again. Yellow saw two thick streams of wetness coming out of the sky blue eyes, and she supposed she herself looked similarly, because her vision was getting almost completely blurred. She tried to wipe her eyes, but Blue’s hands beat her to it. The dark coloured Diamond was now holding yellow cheeks and hurriedly (but gently), tried to wipe them dry with her thumbs.

„I’m so sorry… Stars, I’m so sorry…” she was now whispering, sobbing. But it only made the tears go stronger. Yellow couldn’t see, and she was only able to stroke Blue’s hands, as they were blocking her own face. _I can’t… I can’t wipe them!_ She was slightly irritated.

„They’re not mine.” she said. This smooth touch was still desperately removing the watery layer, but just as fast it was getting replaced by another. „Blue…” Yellow tried to take her away from her face. She’s so delicate… _You’re not gonna wipe them like this!_ „Blue, stop it!” she hissed and succesfully put one of the other’s hands away and began doing it herself. But after Blue withdrawn a little, it began flowing even more. _Stars, what the-_ Yellow didn’t think it was even possible. Her sight was all fuzzy. She could only momentarily see a blue silhouette after every move of her hand.

„I’m sorry…” another sob. Blue Diamond covered her own eyes, trying to regain her composure. But Yellow was still crying foreign tears. Honey coloured eyes were felling irritated. She stopped trying to dry them. _They’re not going to stop, if you’re not going to stop!_

She could hear the other diamond breathing nervously. She really was trying…

„Blue, stop it…” she said gently and unconsciously moved forward.

„I-„ Blue paused when she felt the other’s arms embracing her form, and closing her to the yellow chest. Her eyes went wide, and it made the tears thinner.

Yellow didn’t know what and why she did that. She had no other ideas in her head. She just wanted Blue to hold on, and since she couldn’t, Yellow helped her. She held the Diamond closely, as if her form was going to fall apart and Yellow was the only thing that could prevent it. She was suprised how sleek her thick hair were. And how soft her whole body felt. It was completely different from the armor she wore.

After a while, Blue put hands from her chest and slowly layed them on her back. And so they stood there in silence, _hugging_. That’s the word.

Yellow noticed the tears in her eyes stopped flowing. _Holy #$%^. It worked!_ Whatever she did, she was glad it actually made the situation better. Once she made sure the Diamond in her arms has calmed down, she wiped her face one more time and started to back away. There came a small resistance from the other side, but eventually they separated, Yellow still gently holding her arms, and Blue having her hands placed on the yellow shoulders.

The General saw her blue cheeks were heavily darkened. Probably from all this crying, is what Yellow thought. But the azure eyes were now dry, and wide. She was far from being sad (or angry), and her face was just showing suprise. Yellow didn’t think much of it, since she herselft was taken aback – by the other’s outburst, and by her own doing. Nevertheless, the situation now seemed under control.

Yellow sighed, and drew Blue’s attention on her face. She supposed her eyes were still slightly shining too.

„Are you alright?” she asked quietly.

Blue Diamond blinked a few times and swallowed „Yes…”she took a deep breath, and her expression easened significantly, showing a small smile „Yes.”

She looked like she was thinking about what to say next. Yellow supposed she probably wants to ask about what she just did, and she’d rather avoid it.

„What happened?” she asked, trying her best to sound warm and calm, not wanting to appear pushy, and (stars protect) trigger Blue again.

The dark Diamond regained her composure after a while. „I got angry.”

Yellow focused on the eye contact, sligthly tilting her head. (Perfect way to extort more information.)

„I… It’s my fault. I was overthinking things. I’m sorry.” she smiled apologetically.

„Do you want to talk about it?” Yellow forgot about other duties awaiting her. She didn’t understand why her counterpart’s outburst worsened when she came.

„No…” Blue said looking down. It was definitely an unsure answer. And Yellow somehow didn’t like it.

She started to turn away, not really knowing what else she can do.

„But we can… talk about something else?” Blue smiled hesitantly. No sign of her crying her eyes out mere minutes ago.

Yellow was confused by such a quick change in her aura, but since she somehow helped her gain it, something inside made her think that she had to make sure it stays this way.

She couldn’t help but feel a little angry that the other didn’t want to tell her the truth behind something that made her so worried. Yes… _worried._ Yellow was during the whole incident, and she still couldn’t shake it off. Maybe it wasn’t anger…

She turned to face Blue properly „No.”

Blue looked at her suprised, dissapointed.

„Not unless you tell me why you were crying.” Yellow was not going to leave it like that, now standing at attention. She hated seeing the other diamond in such state. It made her feel bad. Wrong. She didn’t know why. But she wanted to do everything to help.


	12. Flirting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yup, what the title says ;)  
> I ADDED FANART AT THE END!!!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi friends! I'm sure you're aware of the pandemic situation that's going on right now. I don't know in which part of the world you are, but please make sure to take safety measures if you ought to!  
> Stay home, wash your hands, drink water and everything else. What matters is your safety! Your health and wellbeing, as well as your loved ones!  
> I wish you all strength. Take care, friends!

Did White tell her something? That doesn’t sound unlikely. Just what could she say to make her feel so bad?

Blue Diamond sighed, giving up. „I told you already – I was angry.”

„Why?” Yellow pushed for clarification. She was sceptical. Lazily she picked up Blue Pearl’s gem that was laying near her feet, put it in a bubble and send it to the Reef. Before, she briefly inspected it’s surface, and relieved noted that it wasn’t broken. She rather liked this one. It was quiet and trouble free.

„The latest batch of my agates… I placed the kindergarten in a wrong place. They came out unsatisfactory.”

Yellow looked at her suprised. She was very aware of the other’s conditions of gem production, as well as everything else she supervised, and she didn’t see anything wrong with what she just mentioned.

„Nonsence.” Blue was watching her intensely with those shining, azure eyes „Most of them were fully adequate. Of course” Yellow waved her hand „there’s always a few flawed units, but you just either get rid of them or assign them differently.” It was true,a common occurrence and a standard procedure „It was a faultless execution.”

„Not according to White.” Blue sadly looked down.

The General cursed internally and grunted „She told you something like that?” She might’ve done that, but certainly not during the ball.

„No, but…” the other was tasting words in her mouth „I can just feel… that’s she’s not- That she doesn’t see me as… fully proper.”

_Oh for stars sake._

„That’s completely untrue.” Yellow was relieved. It was an everyday issue that White didn’t rightly appreciate someone. And considering Blue Diamond was one to notably **feel** , she might be slightly insecure because of that. „You really were overthinking things. Again.” she shook her head and smiled reassuredly _. Your powers really can be unpredictable if feelings can send you so far_. (I mean, she would never hurt her Pearl.) But something still wasn’t right.

„Yes… Yes, I know.” Blue looked more at ease now. It wasn’t the first time Yellow was lifting her spirits because of this certain problem.

The General knew how difficult it can be to bear White’s pressure. She couldn’t physically protect her counterpart from it, but being aware of her weakness, she always tried her best to be her shield. She didn’t know why, but she just couldn’t let Blue suffer like this.

„That’s why I was angry with myself.”

„ **That** was anger?” Yellow made a motion with her hand, bringing up what had just happened. She still felt the weird sensation where the other’s hands were running in panic not so long ago.

„Oh, well…” the Diamond held one of her cheeks, thinking what to say „No, I… I thought I hurt you.” she looked at the floor. „And so…” she waved her hand and decided to finish with a weak grunt.

 _Oh, alright._ She was afraid she hurt a fellow diamond. It would be, indeed, wrong. Makes sense. (A little exaggerated reaction though?)

„You did not.” Yellow assured her. She didn’t acknowledge anything that happened as a cause of injury, at least not to her. (The tears were only a bother). She saw Blue sigh in relief. „Also you should not be angry with yourself, not in the least.”

Yellow moved to stand next to her counterpart and opened a screen from the blue desk. „Our obligation is to create a few hundred gems at the same time, at no infrequent occasions.” she was scrolling through the other’s recent data reports, with Blue watching, by her side. „It is compeletely normal that not all of them are 100% pure, but even so, in most cases they can still be exploited.” everything was consistent with what she had already read when she was on her ship.

Suddenly Yellow felt bad. She didn’t want to be seen as if she’s lecturing the other diamond. _She already knows all of this!_ Blue is not new to anything anymore. It’s been eons of her being a leader. And she’s a fully proper leader! Why doesn’t she understant that?

„I know.” to Yellow’s inner peace, Blue was not in any way irritated, she was smiling, looking at the display.

The General retreated her hand from it. „We **all** do our work rightly.” she wanted the other to have a little more confidence being inside the authority. Blue had no problem being mighty and intimidating in front of all subjects, but somehow, while in the presence of other diamonds, she acted differently. „And that’s why balls are thrown! To celebrate our achievements. To mark our power as Authority! All **three** of us.”

Blue became visibly more lively.

„How did you like today’s ball?” she smiled cheerfully.

Damn she has big eyes. Yellow felt like they were able to see right into her, but in contrary to White’s, they didn’t make her feel so uncomfortable. Of course there was a weird sensation accompanying it, but it was… rather… _pleasant._

„Uh, it… was fine.” her mind was suddenly blank.

„I really loved one of the songs the gems danced to! It was in the middle of the ceremony. ‘Light shine’? ‘Shine bright’?”

 _Bright beam’_ , Yellow thought, but couldn’t throw it in as the other Diamond continued.

„Oh, it was lovely! I think some of the quartzes were singing it too. Also – the fountain!*” she was gesticulating vividly „The architects really outdid themselves!”

„Yes, it was nicely conducted.” Yellow was actually supervising the project. She always did in order to make sure it appeals to White.

„I didn’t think I’d ever accept so many gems at my leisure. They all were well prepared!” Such a positive aura could come out of her when she was in a good mood. _Do I behave similarly?_ No. Yellow couldn’t remember many moments in her lifetime when she was so joyful. Not to mention actually showing it.

„Oh, right!” Blue looked her way „Were my gems giving you a hard time again?”

The Diamond was very much aware of how subjects from her court behaved. Especially around Yellow Diamond, they were very eager to get noticed by her. During today’s celebration too – Blue definitely could see and even hear them coquetting her counterpart.

The General was not in the habit of rejecting gems outside of her court. If she was to, she’d have to turn down all of them and that would be inappropriate, and even insulting to the other two Diamonds. So she had to bear all the compliments and daring moves from them. The aquamarines and even a few lapis lazulis flying up to have a closer look at her face. They were **almost** so insolent to sit on her shoulders. And the sapphires – _stars, those sapphires!_ – they always moved in groups. They were talking alternately and fast. Yellow could barely make out of what has been said and by which one.

„No, they were suitable.” she lied. No need to insult other Diamond’s subject because of something as trivial as her being slightly annoyed for a few hours.

„Oh, please.” Blue looked amused „I don’t know who taught them to be so bold. But – stars – they are headstrong!” suddenly she changed her pose and put her hand fancily beneath her chin „My Diamond” _huh?_ „may I say, your eyes are shining brighter than any sun!” and she laughed. Yellow felt weird. It was one of the lines she received today. She heard it (or similar ones) a thousand times already. But somehow, when Blue said it, she felt different. Realized her form was warm. Why? She **is** the heat! She’s not supposed to feel it!

But Yellow only smiled wide at the other. She found herself very fond of the sound of Blue’s laughter. It had a nice melody. **Very pleasant.**

It was funny because those words were very frequently used by most famous (annoying) Zircons in law court. Also it was very illogical, since if her eyes were actually brighter than suns, nobody could freely look directly into them. [Of course Yellow understood that it meant they were beautiful.]

„My Diamond!” Blue accented imitating the tone of a common aquamarine „I’m not a judicial gem, but I think it should be illegal to look **that** good, and better daily!”

They both burst out laughing. Her form never changes. _Very good impression_ , Yellow thought. She recalled one line directed to the other.

„Your lustrousness,” she bowed her head lightly, imitating a Holy Blue Agate. Blue stopped laughing. „your hair is like a Marmour Sea*. I swear if I could I would bathe in it every day.” and she laughed. It’s physically impossible to swim there! It was one of the more brave come-ons.

She noticed Blue hiding her face in her hands, looking up bashfully „You would?”

„What?” Yellow was taken aback, but when the other snorted with laughter she joined once again.

They spend a long moment like that, slowly calming down.

„Oh, my…” Blue breathed „Those gems really are something.”

„True.” Yellow smiled back, but then she remembered one different individual „Some, however, tend to cross the line…”

„Huh? Which one?” piqued the Diamond’s interest.

The General wasn’t goint to dwell on that initially, but she was asked.

„One of the sapphires is really provocative.” It was an understatement. Things this particular gem was saying were coming close to vulgar. Yellow didn’t even think of repeating them.

„The one with high tied hair?”

„Yes.” she was suprised „How do you know?” was she bantering Blue too? Or did the Diamond hear her? This sapphire had a habit of getting onto the yellow throne’s armrest, so she could be close and not talk too loud. Yellow was tempted to crush her with her fist, but the mannierism forbid her to.

„I noted her, because she’s not from my court.”

„Hm.” Yellow realized. This sapphire didn’t belong to her either. „Must be from White’s.” Thank the stars she didn’t do anything to her!

Her mood suddenly changed. „Which reminds me – I should be getting back.” she sighed and started walking towards the exit.

„Right!” Blue turned to her own desk, restoring her leading demenour „I need to send amethysts to the military unit.”

„I guess I’ll see you later.”

„Yes and…” they turned to face each other „thank you, Yellow.” she smiled warmly.

Her counterpart returned the gesture. „Of course. Whenever you need me, Blue.”

While walking back to her palace, she noticed that the sky was already dark. She spend there much more time that she intended. And yet there was no regret. Yellow had a poor comprehension of what had happened, but she felt good. The outcome of the situation, the time spent with Blue Diamond, it was positive. It felt… nice. The beggining was rather disturbing, but the fact that she managed to turn things around was considered a success. That little talk they had, those laughs they shared. Yellow found herself wanting to repeat it sometime.

 _It was nice.  
  
  
  
  
  
_ [I think it might look better (more sharp) on desktop, but you can adjust it on phones too I believe ;) ]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About the art: The Diamonds are not the same size as other gems in this fanfic. I just wanted to show you this neverless, cause I thought you might like it <3\. You can check out more of my stuff on my ~ https://edithvanhopper.tumblr.com/ ~ or ~ https://www.deviantart.com/edithvanhopper ~.
> 
> 1*.the fountain - the event in which a newly built statue representing the Diamond Authority is revealed. At first it's shown with flowing streams of colorful, water-like liquid, for the better effect. The statue can be preserved, location changed, or taken down by the will of authority.  
> 2*.Marmour Sea - a famous, biggest object on one of the colonized Ice Giant planets. It looks like a sea, but is in fact filled only with huge fragments of marble stone, that in right light look like water.
> 
> Notice: The Diamonds understand the intentions of compliments, but they receive so many daily, for eons, so they can make fun of them if they want to!


	13. Moon base and a shower

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue and White are working on something together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long. I've been washing my hands and building a fort from toilet paper ;)

„Yes, my Diamond.” the manager Amazonite dissconected from the screen with a short beep. White Diamond just ordered her to change the place of the specific column, that was to support the roof of the new moon base.

The colonies were (mostly) conquered singly, but generally they belonged to all the Diamonds. And so this one was right now being arranged, expanded and decorated [woman’s touch you know] by the architectural sense of Blue and White Diamond. Not having any intelligent life on it, and being rather poor in any organics, this planet was fairly easy to colonize. The were a few places on it, that were appropriate for kindergarten construction. The structure of environment around them though, was what sparked both diamonds’ feeling of creativity. Large, but simply shaped mountains seemed to be a perfect place for building engineer centers, the kanyons and holes below – for resource containers, many unspecified areas for small warp pads, and a few diamond sized ones. And having found placing teleports in too many places so close to each other inefficient, Blue Diamond suggested a solution using bridges. White approved, one could even say, gaily, and the two of them were now standing in the control room, designing and leading gem workers.

Blue was honestly surprised that White wanted to work on it together. The whole time spent around her superior she felt uneasy. But it was well hidden. Her performance was undisturbed, as she kept her high standing demanour. The only worry in her head was gems’ presentation. She really wanted to avoid getting angry at them in front of White.

All workers on the planet were greatly motivated while being in two diamond’s confidence. Although, of course, nervous, so far they have been proving to be faultless. The construction has been moving swiftly, and a peaceful weather worked to kindergarteners’ advantage.The original design of the new base turned out to have a few errors in it. But the Diamonds (suprisingly) took in in their stride, and carried out the modifications calmly.

From third person’s view, without knowing what the rulers are thinking, it could be said that they were enjoying themselves. The truth was however that Blue Diamond was exceptionally stressed. No matter how much time she spent in White’s presence, she couldn’t shake off this… troublesome feeling. She witnessed the superior gem being cruel and merciless on many occasions. She also saw her behaving freely and rather… joyfully while doing her work sometimes. She wouldn’t believe it unless she saw it, but White actually **could** smile honestly. It didn’t happen often, but there were times when the gemkind was at peace, without any wars coming up, and with the planet conquering task withheld. Those moments were treasured by every living gem.

And one of this times was actually heppening right now. All the colonies were functioning properly, being supervised by carefully selected manager gems. Yellow Diamond was on one of hers, CR-147, that had an experimental laboratory and an enormous testing field. And Blue with White were here, fashioning the new, pretty satellite.

„My Diamond.” Blue Pearl attracted attention on herself „Gray Agate gem on the line.”

Blue put up the screen higher so she could see it. Once the gem on the other side saw the monarch she came to a salute.

„Gray Agate, reporting in.”

„Speak.” Blue was only looking at her from the corner of her eye, her expression cold.

„The construction of the west wall in central part of the main dome is going to fall behind schedule.” sharp gaze of the Diamond made her flinch. „A division of bismuths has been removed from it for the time being, by the order of White Diamond…” the last part was almost a whisper.

Blue took only a second to think. „Take a group of bismuths from the east side. Make it equall for both parts and finish it on time.” the Agate saluted and Blue ended the call. Yeah, she was getting used to White doing everything without her consideration. On one hand it was easier to spend time with her, because they didn’t have to interact with each other too much. On the other hand however, it bothered her a little, that she’s not fit for her superior to take her opinion into account. Blue wondered if she acts the same with Yellow. Although Yellow… _she probably would not put up with it like I do…_ Blue smiled to herself.

Speaking of the devil - the two Diamonds’ thoughts were interrupted by an urgent message that came to both of them. It had yellow colour. White opened hers and started reading. Blue, knowing that hers is a copy, stepped closer to have a look too. It was a statement, explaining an important issue. Apparently there was a shower of meteors coming Yellow Diamond’s colony’s way. She sent a memo, letting them know that it’s a serious matter and that she’s going to take care of it right away. Really it had only an informative character, so that they’re aware of why some of the battle ships (full of dynamite and magic enhanced cannons) will change their course towards her.

White closed the screen and came back to what she was doing. She held a display of Blue’s architectural design.

„What is the purpose of having a terrace build in this place?”

Blue was expecting this question would come up eventually.

„The view from it shows the largest exhibition of the kindergartens. It covers the most astounding landscape ground, and the overall scenery that can be seen from there is truly wondrous.” she smiled contentedly. The view from there really was beautiful and she arranged it on a whim. Her smile however quickly dissapeared when she saw White’s puzzled expression.

„What I mean is… big part of the buildings and gem workers can be observed from there, without the need to leave the base.” she added hurriedly.

„Hmm…” White seemed to be considering what she said „I like it.” she smiled.

_Oh stars…_ Blue Diamond wavered a little after the other turned back. _That was a close one._

As splendid architect as she was, and actually liked this job, she wanted to be done with it as soon as possible. Of course she valued every moment in her superior’s presence. Let White be in a good mood, it was even enjoyable. Honorable. Still… Blue couldn’t help but feel a little anxious having someone bigger than her in the room. She was almost sure that every move, every decision she made, was closely judged. Yet nothing implied that it was true, since White’s behaviour didn’t seem like she was anywhere close to supervising Blue.

Her eyes stopped for a moment on White Pearl. She looked different than the last time she saw her. Yes… she was a different one - she had an unalike outfit and her hair was longer. It was usual for White to change her pearls from time to time. Blue once inquired Yellow about that, and was reassured that they aren’t being shattered, but just sent to the Shell, where they stayed or were handed over to other jobs. The reason behind their superior doing that however, Yellow didn’t share.

Another few days passed calmly, and both Diamonds (also all the gems) seemed to be at ease. Suddenly a sound of a call coming disturbed the quiet pitter-patter of fingers running on the computer screens. It was not from Yellow Diamond’s communicator. White declined it, irritated. She specifically ordered that no gem is to contact her through the diamond line at the moment. She was at peace and wanted to stay this way.

„Tiles of the dome, apart from being almost transparent, need to have a colour.” she was swiping through the plans.

„Yes,” Blue approached her gladly „I was thinking beige. It would play nicely with the environment.” she showed the other her screen. She really wanted White to keep the positive attitude she showed so far, and if she can’t, maybe she can be infected with her own.

But after a moment the incoming call appeared again in front of the rulers. White declined it once more. Blue worriedly noticed that she was becoming more annoyed.

„It would fit. I’ll send the- „ the window of this starforsaken call jumped out before her, making a beeping sound, begging to be answered. „Oh for stars sake!” White turned it off angrily. Before she even retreadted her hand though, it popped up again. Now her fist aggressively opened it.

„What!?” on the other side, a peridot, looking like one of the managers, recoiled in fear. She straightened herself quickly though and came to a salute. Her form was covered in dirt, and she was trembling.

„My Diamond! Peridot chief, facet-„

„What do you want?” she lowered her voice but was still staring daggers.

„I-„ the loud sound of machinery interrupted her for a second. All the while from around her could be heard a commotion „I’m sorry to contact you this way!” she was clearly in panic „I’m calling from Yellow Diamond’s main spaceship.” both Diamonds looked at her shocked. Blue came closer to the screen. It had to be something **very** important for a gem to call White Diamond personally. But if that was the case, why didn’t **Yellow** do it?

White seemed to be unable to find words, as the look on her face changed into something Blue couldn’t specify. Nontheless her intimidating demanour was kept, and just with one look she propmted the peridot to continue.

„I don’t know if reports already updated, but- „ another noise „ the meteor shower turned out to be a cover for another astronomical body.” she was talking fast, standing rigid in salute, trying to hide her shivering „A large planetoid is approaching the colony.”

„How large?”

„The cannons have cleared the atmosphere. But they weren’t able to suppress it as most of them stayed behind! Be- because we didn’t know it was coming!” multiple voices were being crushed behing the small gem, yelling words that couldn’t be understood. She opened a screen with her limb enhancers „It is estimated to be… approximately six hundred kilometres across!” the peridot now had to speak louder, so that the monarchs could hear her against the commotion.

Blue gasped. The impact of such a big object could surely destroy all the kindergartens, putting the colony in ruins. If the cannons didn’t destroy it… _Why didn’t they destroy it!?_ That was their purpose! _How come they didn’t know it was coming!? Who stood behind this!?_

White Diamond seemed to be having the same thoughts exactly. If the asteroid passed the battle ships, and they’re unable to catch up to it, there’s only one solution.

„Order the evacuation.” she gritted her teeth.

„W- we did! Yellow Diamond did! All the gems have been put onboard, and the crafts departed!” she had tears in her eyes. Why wouldn’t she. Her action was against anyone’s orders and she knew it.

„Then. What. Are you calling me for?” _so long the good mood…_

„Be-because” she now tried to conceal her sobbing „Ye- Yellow Diamond, she- she refused to board the ship! She stayed on the planet and headed towards the location of impact!”

„What!?” both Diamonds nearly shouted. Blue louder, as she now approached the other even closer to have a better look at the screen call. The Peridot only now saw her and came to a salute once again.

„M- my Diamond.” she breathed. Her shaking increased.

White grabbed Blue’s diamond communicator that was laying nearby „Just what is she doing-„

„Yellow Diamond didn’t take any communication devise with her…” peridot cried.

„Who is piloting the ship?” Blue asked angrily „Turn back at once! Let us speak to her!” she noticed her whole form becoming colder than usual. Something inside her core began vibrating.

„Yellow Diamond set the route herself. We can not change the course!” tears were flowing freely from behind the green visor.

  
  
Never before has Blue seen White Diamond run. But there she was right in front of her. They got on their ships in only a few seconds, and departed immediately. Blue felt really bad. A clear displeasure filled her whole body. Firstly both her and her superior were angry, but this wrath was directed nowhere specified. At least in Blue’s case, is what she thought. Primarily she was feeling anxious. She tried to stop all the worst thoughts going over her head. What if something happens to Yellow? What is she doing? What if she’s going to d-

Blue choked. Tears in her eyes were becoming bigger, but she internally slapped herself and managed to conceal her aura. It wouldn’t help. Especially not in White’s presence. Shakily she tried to focus on maneuvering the spaceship.

The screen with the certain Peridot stayed opened, as they forbit her to disconnect. One more important question White asked her once they set off…  
But the poor technician didn’t know whether they’ll be able to get there on time.


	14. Misunderstanding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It wasn't her fault?

„Launch it.”

She ordered through her handset. Moment after, the ground she was standing on shoke. A loud rattle of the cables connected to large machines arranged in a circle, initiated a river of elecricity bursting in every direction. And she was standing in the middle of it. Unceremoniously, Yellow Diamond lowered her stance and absorbed the energy. It made the force visibly grow, as its intensity was embraced and connected to the Diamond’s incredible power. Gold thunderbolts were now striking wildly into the air. The fierce storm was accompanied by flashes and deafening sound of explosions inside it.

Yellow looked up. The asteroid has already crossed the mesosphere. _Perfect._ She widened the position of her legs, clenched her hands into fists and prepared to strike. One last glance towards the objective and the thundershower around her thickened. She herself was now blinded by her own might, but she knew exactly where to aim. She threw a punch up above her head. The smite of yellow lightning, in a blink of an eye rose high into the sky, hitting the target with unbelievable force. The sound of explosion could be heard few thousand kilometres away. Shockwave it generated, created a gigantic fire circle, which covered the whole visible sky.

Yellow lowered her hands, exhausted. Her whole form was emitting clear smoke, as she let herself discharge. She was now staring at the view before her, searching. She only briefly noted fog creating near the ground, as the water in the air dropped out of suspension in the pressure waves. Temperature on the surface significantly dropped, becoming suddenly cold because of the air being so violently stretched and moved. After quite a long time, the smoke and ashes began to thin out, and Yellow saw.   
The planetoid was gone. Vanished. Nowhere to be seen apart from some much smaller residues, that were an easy target for her grounded cannons. A picturesque smile appeared on her face.

„Hahahah YEAH!” she screamed, but instantly straightened herself and brushed her armor. Thank stars there was noone around to witness her inappropriate behaviour. Her grin however didn’t disappear, she was beaming with happiness. Happiness and pride.

The power engine she was developing on this planet found the perfect opportunity to pass its final test. The sole Diamond’s magic might’ve not worked entirely destroying the target. Or at least there was no way of cheking that. Yellow didn’t want to risk exhausting herself independently, because if she didn’t manage to succeed, certainly no power engine or cannon would. And so she decided to combine both hers and the technology’s strength. Stars her witness – the whole experiment was a success!

Coming back to the base, all engineers who stayed on the planet to handle the activation from significant distance, were blessed with their Diamond’s sunny smile. Her warm expression made everyone feel proud. Some gems were yelling or even jumping and throwing fists in the air. The General, too glad to reprimand them, started ordering the ships to return.

„My Diamond.” her Pearl’s voice sounded shaky, when she spoke through the communicator once the Diamond resumed the signal. She had to turn it off before so that the power engine’s wasn’t disturbed. Apart from looking troubled, her small assistant was smiling. Yellow looked up and gestured to her that she understands.

High in the sky there was her ship drawing near. And together with it two more – one white, one blue. _Huh,_ Yellow thought surprised. _What are they doing here?_ Did they come because of the asteroid? No, no. She sent a statement that she’s going to take care of it. The report wasn’t alarming. It was just a notification.

So why did White and Blue come? Together nonetheless? They were both working on one of the satellites in the neightbouring sector if Yellow remembers correctly. And she **does** remember correctly. _Did something happen?_

She got onto the white platform that was opened at the bottom of the biggest ship. She could hear loud diamond chords when she walked up close to the door. They opened swiftly before her and Yellow came inside.

Brightness of the large control room hit her armor that reflected the stream of light. The Diamonds were standing high on the elevation. Yellow noted that they had very many screens open, floating around. They had mostly her current colony’s feed. Some showed videos of the planet from far away, pointed at the place where the operation took place. Clouds of smoke were still visible in the atmosphere. _They saw what I did?_ Yellow knew she doesn’t have to, but she felt proud. It was quite a mission she carried out. It must’ve looked astounding from where they were watching.

But she managed to conceal her smile when the two Diamonds turned to face her. Their expressions showed nothing of gladness.

„What ar-„ she didn’t manage to finish when they threw themselves her way. It startled her a little. Both’s faces were frowned.

„Yellow-„ dark coloured Diamond’s soft, but trembling voice was cut by her superior. White quickly overtook Blue and rushed towards the General. She looked angry.

„Are you completely out of your mind!?” she yelled. Yellow instinctively moved back. White was furious. The golden monarch was out of words. „Just what in stars name were you trying to accomplish!?” she closed the distance and grabbed her shoulders. Yellow forgot all the positive attitude she had. And despite herself, she feld bad. She saw the dark blue figure standing nearby behind her superior. Not daring to come too close. She couldn’t make out Blue Diamond’s face.

„All calculations were accurate. There was no risk of-„ she tried. Didn’t know what exactly was her fault. She only supposed it had something to do with the planetoid, because of what they must’ve seen on the videos.

„NO RISK!?” White Diamond screamed. The floor they stood on, as well as the walls around them shoke. „Without any explanation you head where an ASTEROID is about to hit! Withdrew all gems – away from the planet! You went there - ALONE” her voice momentarily cracked „And you tell me there was NO RISK!?” it took all Yellow’s strength to keep her high standing posture. _No explanation?_

„I sent you the statement. It said everything is under control.” she frowned. White seemed to be slowly regaining her composure.

„And yet” she let go of Yellow „I receive it way too **overdue**. It doesn’t say exactly **how** are you going to deal with an **apocaliptic** issue.” she hissed „And the person who informs me about it is a low class gem – crying that her Diamond is going on a suicide mission!”

_Oh, I don’t know anything about that…_ Yellow thought surprised. _Which gem?_

„Well that’s hardly any of my fault. As I said – the project I was developing was blameless. I had the whole plan of action and I worked out the strategy **myself.** ” she was defending herself.

„Yellow…” White massaged her temples, letting the other know that she clearly fails to see the problem. She looked sad. „You put yourself in danger, vouching for technology that doesn’t even prove to be effective.”

„My technology didn’t fail.” Yellow said through gritted teeth. But her confidence turned out to be a bad move.

„AND WHAT IF IT DID!?” White’s hand streched as if she wanted to catch something in the air. There was a silver glow of magic comin out of it.

„NO WAIT!” suddenly a dark blue light covered the whole room. Both Yellow and White turned away from it. White dropped her offensive posture and grunted. Just as quickly as it appeared, the blue aura vanished. The Diamonds fixed Blue with a look. Her hands were covering her mouth and she was staring at them warily with glossy, wet eyes. _Oh no… Not in front of White…_

Yellow blinked to get rid of a small tear in her right eye. White wiped her own face to do the same, but the General standing before her, surprised, noted that she had more of the liquid under black eyelashes than her.

Confounded as Yellow was seeing that her superior’s expression showed… sadness(?), she was also relieved that she wasn’t angry anymore.

„Leave.” White said quietly, turning away and going back on the elevation. „Both of you.” she added acknowledging Blue in only a corner of her eye.  
Yellow stepped on a warp wad that was placed nearby. She waited a second for a Diamond following her. Before they teleported White once again looked her way „We’ll get back to this matter.” a promise that will surely be kept. Because of the glim of light she couldn’t see her superior’s face.

Yellow got off the stand in her control room. She turned back however, when she heard a shuffle of clothes, signaling that Blue teleported here together with her, instead of her own ship. Yellow didn’t even manage to face her properly, when a big, dark form closed the distance and embraced her. She felt strong arms on her back, slim hands firmly grasping her armor and pushing her close to the other’s body, without saying anything.

Yellow gently returned the hug, finding it was becoming a natural thing for them. _You overreacted. She wasn’t going to hurt me_ – she wanted to say, but the words died in her throat when she felt Blue’s face, or rather – lips - touching the plate of her shoulder. She froze in place.

_Cold_ , but after a second she found another word – _soft_ – to describe it. Yellow felt a weird sensation inside her core. She didn’t know what was happening, but it didn’t make her feel bad or anything, so she didn’t retreat.

It took her a some time to realize how strong Blue Diamond was, as she was clinged to her chest for what seemed to be, eternity. Yellow couldn’t see her face, because it was hidden next to her neck.

She’s overreating. Again. -Yellow thought. But Blue wasn’t crying. No. Her behaviour implied that she felt something else. That she was… relieved. _It was just a big misunderstanding. I didn’t mean for any of you to bother with it._

The General slowly brushed the dark hood off the other’s head with gloved hand. Blue, carefully, withdrew. Her hands holding now yellow arms. Only now could Yellow see her face. Surprisingly, she looked quite calm.

„I was worried about you.” she said with her sad eyes. _I know, I-_ Yellow opened her mouth to say but was interrupted. „No… I was scared for you…” her voice cracked with a hint of new tears in her azure look. _No… there was no need for that…_ „And-„ she sobbed „and White was too.” she marked out confidently. _It wasn’t my fault. It-_ „I just-„ her blue hand rose to hide her mouth „I don’t know what I would do if-„

Yellow took Blue’s hand in hers, and placed the other on her cheek, trying to make sure the tears wont flow. „I know. I’m sorry.” she said. As much as Yellow was startled, she was also shocked to imagine that White was **worried.** She thought that her superior was simply angry with her... The idea was now however faded, being replaced with the one of a tender, chilly sensation against her palm.

Blue was looking into her eyes for a long while, slowly regaining her composure and eventually smilling. They spent a long moment standing like that.

„I’m glad your experiment worked out.” she looked outside the wall sized window of the room. Yellow did the same, noting that the white ship was already gone.

„So am I.”

They were holding each other’s hands. And Yellow wouldn’t even realize it unless Blue’s suddenly retreated. „I should go back.”

Yellow felt bad. Both White and Blue put their work on hold because of this indicent involving her. And it wasn’t even her fault…

She wanted to say something more while watching Blue walk towards the warp pad. But she already caused enough delay in their work. Plus it would be better if she caught up to White soon… so she stayed silent. Now was not the time for any private conversations.

Once Blue’s silhouette dissapeared, Yellow looked at her own hands. What just happened between them. What they both did, it was… _It was inappropriate._ She spent a moment watching the place where her counterpart stood a few moments ago. _I think…_

Before she moved on her throne’s elevation another thought came up in her head. _Why did I apologize?_

  
„Pearl.” Yellow was greeted with a joyous smile once the assistant laid eyes on her. Normally it would irritate her, but at that moment it felt soothing to watch. „Find me the gem who contacted White Diamond during my absence.”


	15. Three POVs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> POV - Point Of View :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please bear all my grammar, spelling, and repeating mistakes ;)

Although the whole thing passed rather quickly, Blue couldn’t help but reflect on the so many scenarios that were going through her head the whole time. She feared for the life of a fellow Diamond, a co-ruler. She feared for the colony’s existence, for the gems that were yet to emerge from there. How such a step back in efficiency would affect the empire. How powerful would be White Diamond’s wrath or… grief. What would they do with millions of gems left without their adored leader… She was almost choking with all this thoughts.

But most of all – Blue feared to be alone. It was the first time the idea even came to her mind. What would she do if she didn’t have her counterpart? Or more specifically – what would she do if she didn’t have Yellow herself?

Most of her life she was alone. Leading gems alone. Giving orders, making decisions, being – alone. Only ocassionally contacting with others on her lever via tele communication. Of course she was almost never left without various subordinates by her side… but it wasn’t the same. And Blue wasn’t even aware of it then. The thought of actual loneliness was what overwhelmed her during this journey. Of being the only one of her might. White Diamond wasn’t like them… She stood higher. She was more powerful. And all the space ride she spent screaming at dozens of gems, calling them, ordering every ship to turn towards the planet. To turn every available camera to the place where the General was. Trying to find her, to – by all cost – try to talk to her.

Blue was mirroring her actions. She was actually very grateful that White was there. She knew that she probably wouldn’t be able to focus by herself. The thought of her own aura going simply out of control if she lost her composure. The idea of crying her eyes out, because that’s how she was feeling the whole time. It reminded her that it would usually be Yellow, who helped during such moments. It was her who always gave Blue words of encouragement, which she knew she couldn’t expect from anyone else. It was Yellow who brought warm into the always cold rooms and chambers. It was her who promised to always be there when she needed help. It was her who Blue was assured she was always welcome to talk to…

She felt her hands start trembling when the so familiar ship appeared in sight behind the wall-sized window of White’s and hers connected control room. It was so… yellow. She craved to see this colour, but in adifferent form. She wanted to see a form of warm, honey eyes looking into hers. A form of gentle smile, or even sinister scowl she witnessed so many times during court cases. All her expressions had some charm to it… Blue’s mind trailed to the feeling of smooth, gloved hands holding hers, trying to make her feel better – and oh so many times succeeding. How Yellow’s fingers would lace so perfectly with her own… They’ve never done that, but Blue knew… How their hands fit so ideally with each other. She couldn’t do it with anyone else. Literally noone in the entire universe was suited enough, except Yellow.

The moment the asteroid was destroyed by the source on the planet’s surface, was when she felt relief. And it was shared with White, as she suddenly put her hand on Blue’s shoulder when they were standing next to each other and watching the outcome. The superior monarch dropped her head and sighed, holding the other Diamond strongly, but gently. Blue knew that White was also relieved. She saw it, and she was glad.

She was suprised when the Diamond abandoned this attitude and replaced it with yelling at Yellow when she appeared. Blue was certain that most of what White felt was gladness that her junior was safe and sound, and so she didn’t understand why she decided to hide it.

The unexpected outburst of silver glow was what startled Blue, and she regreted it dearly just seconds after it happened. She knew she overreacted…

Her body moved by its own and followed her counterpart. She wasn’t thinking and she simply clinged to the gold armor before her. Stars, was it warm. Blue didn’t even realize how much she missed it. She felt Yellow’s arms return the gesture, and it pushed away all the doubts about behaving inappropiately. She lost herself for a long moment and hid her face in the strong shoulder. Blue couldn’t remember what she was thinking then…

All her emotions, although she kept the aura concealed, spilled out in form of words. And she hated that she couldn’t express herself properly, angry that her own mouth made her stutter.

Yellow apologized and the look in her eyes made all the fear fade away. They held hands firmly, and Blue felt good just standing there with her, doing nothing but that. She wanted this moment to last longer, but the sudden thought of White Diamond brought her back to reality. _I can’t stay too far behind…_ Although she wanted to spend more time where she was (where for unspecified reason she felt more at ease) - duty called.

Once Blue stepped inside the control room of blue ship, she felt the comforting warm leave her surroundings. She sat heavily on her throne and after it set off only then she came to her senses. _It… wasn’t proper._ What she felt, what she was thinking – it was inappropriate for a Diamond. For any gem actually.

They had different priorities – or at least they were **supposed** to. Has she really felt this way? _No, no, impossible._ Blue thought hesistantly. There are already enough unfit features she has, but only this one made her feel so insecure and scared.

Was it wrong to care for a fellow Diamond so deeply? Blue thought about White Diamond sigh in relief. She could see the weight took off her shoulders. White clearly cared for Yellow too.

 _Yes…_ Blue was probably overthinking things again. She sighed. They just… express themselves differently. She wasn’t being crazy. _It’s normal._ She looked at her hands that were missing the feeling of being held by warm, yellow ones a mere hour ago.

_…Probably._

I  
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I

White Diamond was sitting on an elevated, shining throne, with many unattended screens floating above her desktop. She’s been unmoved for a few hours already, letting the ship go on auto pilot with quickly set coordinates. She had a bluebrint of Yellow’s recent project open, laying on her desk. She was lost in her thoughts.

She didn’t take Blue into account while imagining the conversation she was going to have with Yellow, and so the intrusion threw her off.

With her aura nevertheless… White knew the Diamond was emotional but damn – it was unnecessary. She wasn’t going to hurt Yellow. _Damn it I’d never hurt her!_ She was thinking, annoyed. She wouldn’t hurt Blue either. She’s higher than that. Getting into a fight with another Diamond was simply out of the question. For all of them! There are different ways of solving things.

Of course, had it been any other gem who wronged her – let it be shattered. But the Diamonds are too noble. Too precious. Too rare. Worst case scenario – discipline is what they need. But not death.

White massaged her temples once again. She traced back to the thought of blue aura hitting her. So irritating for her eyes _. I don’t know how Yellow puts up with it so often._ Yes, she was aware of Blue Diamond going nuts with her emotions on multiple occasions. Whether for reasons to her unknown or because of her rage spilling out during court cases. White was following all reports including such incidents. She was also contemplating about it with Yellow a lot. The youngest Diamond’s ‘emotional’ trait used to be something new to her, so she wanted to make sure it doesn’t go out of control or cause major problems.

It didn’t. White suspected it was partly thanks to Yellow keeping eye on that. She was grateful to her – although she’d never admit it. From the statements the General gave her she knew that Yellow – so far – has always been able to stabilize any event of sort. She didn’t get into details, but White (after seeing how easily her juniors work with each other) knew that no violence or threatening took place to achieve that. She wasn’t sure if she herself would be capable of dealing with it the same way, so she simply decided to avoid that and leave it to her right hand.

 _But to spill her aura on me?_ White shook her head. The situation was under control, with Yellow safe and colony in no danger anymore. Did she really not trust her superior? Blue looked like she was suprised herself. _Ugh…_

_Just what was her reason this time?_

I  
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I

The silence in the brown-gold halls was disturbed by regular steps echoing between walls. Group of various gems was going towards the lighter part of the building without a word. A richly dressed Emerald was leading the way. Her short green hair were falling freely on her black, decorated shoulderpads, and her visors were taken off. Her high heels were loudly tapping on the floor and the long, dark cape was following close behind. Most important in her outfit was a thin, yellow deltoid pattern on her vest, right above the shining, green emerald gem. She was a commander – one of the highest standing gems in Yellow Diamond’s court.

At the end of the party followed a big Red Topaz with a weapon in hand. Her expression was unreadable, as usual. In the middle were going two amethyst soldiers, dressed in high class armor. They were presenting themselves proudly, ominous look in their eyes. And between them – a picture of misery.

Poor peridot gem, deprived of her limb enhancers, head dropped, was dragging her short legs on the floor. She was hunched over, her arms were flowing freely near her hips as if there was no life in them. Her eyes were dried out from all the crying – she didn’t stop after her Diamond was safe, because she knew what she had done. She knew it even before she made the call – that she is probably going to be shattered for this. She had no right to call White Diamond personally. It was even the first time she saw her in person, but she had no choice… The fear she felt was immense, paralysing. She didn’t want her Diamond to die, and she rejected to take into consideration her own life. But it didn’t matter, she thought. Her life compared to Yellow Diamond’s meant nothing. Plus it’s not like her call helped in any way – the monarch managed by herself.

Peridot knew that what was going to happen was logical and expected all along. And yet the previous night she couldn’t stop trembling, sobbing so hard and so long she passed out for a while. Now she was simply exhausted. Exhausted and scared.

She thought she was going to be put on trial, but they passed the court room long time ago. The guards were now leading her towards one of Yellow Diamond’s chambers. Once she realized it she froze in panic and one of the amethyst had to push her to walk. Now her body was moving by itself.

The group stopped and Peridot lifted her head slowly to look forward. They were standing in front of huge, golden door with two dark coloured Topazes on each side. Next to them was a pearl – Yellow Pearl. Peridot swallowed. The door suddenly opened without anyone saying a word.

It took Peridot all the strength she had left to let her legs move once again. She felt new tears form in her eyes. She didn’t have to, but she was breathing heavily, trying to calm herself down. When they were crossing the entrance following the Emerald, she stole a glance at Yellow Pearl. Without her limb enhancers Peridot was much smaller than her. _How humiliating…_ How miserable she was. Probably looked really pathetic right now – and that’s how she felt. Shorter than a pearl… A brainless decoration used to push around…

She felt thick, warm tears escape and flow down her cheeks. __  
  



	16. Peridot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What will Yellow Diamond do to her?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter came out a little longer than I expected, but feels kinda short...  
> Anyway, I hope you'll like it ;)

The room, despite its walls being a gold colour, was rather dark, as there was only a few lights on. It’s the first impression Peridot got at least, but she quickly became aware of the shining source of glow ahead, that was being blocked by Emerald’s back in front of her. She held her shaky breath. She recognized this presence.

The group of four now (because the Topaz stayed on the other side of the door), walked a dozen metres before the commander halted. „My luminous Diamond~” she said cheerfully and bowed deep. Only then Peridot, when said Emerald before her bend down and stopped blocking the view, saw the mighty entity sitting a little further from them. Yellow Diamond, in person, was looking down at her, with a stoic expression on her face. Only thanks to this place’s mild darkness she wasn’t blinded by the brilliance of the gold armor. The monarch was positioned unceremoniously on her brownish throne. One of her hands was laying loosely on the armrest, second was supporting her chin, her legs crossed and the strength and hardness of her boots was clear to the small, green gem’s eye. It filled her with a thought of how **easily** she could get killed just by getting stepped on.

The quick follow of amethyst soldiers on her sides, doing a dignified salute, jolted Peridot back to her senses, and she did the same. Bowing her head broke her staring into the big, tawny eyes above, which, despite being terrified and wretched, she couldn’t help but consider simply **beautiful**. The green gem wondered if she was the sole observed point, or if it was the whole party Yellow Diamond was blessing with her sight.

Emerald straightened herself. Peridot could not see her face, but her view of the monarch was blocked again.

„That would be all.” Peridot heard a low, hard but melodious voice. It painfully reminded her of what was about to happen. She already stopped feeling the tears that kept flowing down her face, blurring the bottom of her visor.

The commander seemed taken aback for a moment, she grunted quietly, but dutifully made another salute, being mimicated by Amethysts. All of them turned at the same time and started walking back. Peridot for a brief moment could see that the Emerald’s face showed what looked like… dissapointment? annoyance? _Damn clod._ She thought. That bastard probably wanted to watch her being punished. Stars know this particular Emerald was a cruel leader and she’d like that.

Once she was exposed she felt the intense power in front of her again. She felt… naked. Peridot didn’t drop her salute as her tense body was now the only thing that kept her from falling on her knees. Although afraid and trembling, she looked up to find her ruler’s face calmly gazing into her eyes. The quiet sound of doors being closed behind Peridot’s back was what made her realize that there was no hope for her… She was now alone with her Diamond in the room.

_Well… this is it._ She thought tearfully. _Just let it be quick._

With a quick glance she noted a few light yellow bubbles floating near the ceiling. She managed to recognize some types of gems inside. No doubt those were the units responsible for miscalculating the recent meteor shower event and failing to recognize the asteroid issue on time. _They’re not shattered…_ Peridot knew that this was also a possibility - to be simply imprisoned instead of killed. But it didn’t bring much of a relief, since it also involves the experience of being shot with the golden Diamond’s power, and it is likely that she’d stay in there for eternity. Not to mention the eventuality when the ruler someday simply decides to destroy her gem anyway, and she wouldn’t even be aware of it.

The monarch above straightened her position, but remained sitting with one leg on the other. _She’s just gonna go for it?_ Peridot couldn’t help feeling amazed by being there. She’s never had the chance before, to stand so close to the Diamond, let alone to have her whole attention on herself. Despite, of course, the reason for it… Well, if this is her way to go, it’s probably the most honorable way she can be executed right now – is what she thought.

Peridot gritted her teeth and closed her eyes, still having arms forming a diamond shape in front of her chest. She expected an outburst – either of electricity or of Yellow Diamond’s angry speech.

„Which facet are you again?” although the voice was calm it still echoed in the chamber. Peridot took a deep breath once more and lifted her head. With all the little strength she had, she managed to let the words come out from her mouth.

„Peridot Facet-1C7G Cut-8BZ.” recited an unforgettable line every gem had. Everytime she had to say it it reminded her of what she was. Or more specifically – how wrong she was.

Despite being created in an alfa Homeworld Kindergarten - the first and most grand ever - she did not come out from there as what she was supposed to be. She was smaller than other peridots and noone could figure out why, since she didn’t stay in the ground too long or anything. Hence the limb enhancers – she was equipped with and assigned just as any other gem, as if she wasn’t defective. She was happy. She felt blessed that she got to be treated as normal. Of course apart from her size, nothing was wrong with her. On the contrary actually - she was a splendid technician and a successful architect. To the point where she was able to surpass many other gems and make her way to Yellow Diamond’s closest, personal units long time ago. Most wonderful privilege, truly.

But it didn’t make any difference now. No. She made a mistake – a most terrible mistake. Was it… was it because she was faulty? It made her question. Was that why she called White Diamond? Was that why she was worried for her leader to the point she abandoned her position? Would she do that is she wasn’t… defective?

„…My Diamond.” she added hurriedly.

Yellow Diamond frowned slightly, studying the gem who was a size of her thumb standing below. Peridot was sure that the monarch was thinking the same thing she is. The royal didn’t even open any screen to check her numbers, she knew who she was. Once again the green gem became aware of streams of tears coming from her green eyes.  
The Diamond made a motion with her hand, which made Peridot flinch, but no offensive magic came out of it. Just the ground she was standing on shoke and part of the floor rose high in the air. She was now standing in the middle of elevated platform, with its height aligned with her leader’s lower knee. _So it won’t be a fast execution._ Peridot didn’t think it was possible, but she was now even more intimidated by the dark honey eyes. She’s going to have to answer… and despite trying her hardest for days before this one, she could not bring herself to come up with any good excuse. Not that she would be able to deliver one anyway – she couldn’t lie. Not because it was forbidden, but because she was too devoted… too respectful towards the great being in front of her. She… she loved her.

And she’s going to have to tell the truth.

„Why did you contact White Diamond in person?” straight to the point. The golden ruler was staring down at her with stoic, unreadable expression on her face. It was only **one** question, but Peridot could read much more from it: Your position does not authorize you to do that. Where did you even get the proper communication line from? Did someone else ‘allowed’ you to make a call? What made you think your action is justified? And most importantly – what exactly was your reason? _Just what were you thinking!?_

„M-my Diamond,” Peridot couldn’t stop her voice from shaking. What she’s going to say **may** have an affect on what’s going to happen to her, but she wasn’t able to make herself untruthful. Not in front of Yellow Diamond herself – the reason she lives, and her reason **to** live. She lost herself to the faithfulness to what’s real. _Nothing can be done right now._

„I- I was worried about you… m- my Diamond…” she started sobbing. The hard salute began softening with her arms loosing strength. „I was scared for you.” she sniffed. Yellow monarch’s eyes widened, but she didn’t pay much attention to it, too focused on watching one point on enormous boots before her, half blinded by her own tears. Words were spilling from her mouth, accompanied with miserable sobs. „For your safety. A-and everyone else was too,” sob „my Diamond. The- the reports. They-’’ sob „They didn’t reach our-’’ sniff „our network on time. We didn’t know what you were planning and-’’ she took a breath, slowly steadying her talk „I **know** my purpose. I didn’t mean to and I didn’t act against it!” the Diamond was looking at her wide eyed with genuine curiosity „I just- I was blinded by the distress I felt…” _emotions_ „My actions may not have been justified… But all I cared about in that moment was my Diamond’s safety…” she dared to look up and regreted it dearly. Her superior was frowning, her diamond shaped pupils focused on the single green soul. She looked angry and at the same time surprised, but Peridot only paid attention on the first one. _Oh no…_

„And it’s not that- ’’ she said a little too loud. _Calm down!_ „It’s not that I didn’t believe in my Diamond’s power… a- and strength!” she could barely see through her wet visor, she was almost choking. „I was… I was j-just overwhelmed by…” _my_ _feelings._ But she couldn’t say that. That was not something appropriate for a gem. Peridot failed to restrain too much honesty. „We all… **I** \- I just didn’t know what to do-’’

„Enough.”

She flinched and shut her eyes, but after that word came only silence. Peridot’s arms forgot the salute somewhere in the middle of her pathetic speech and came to be grasping her shoulders, one of her hands holding tight the gemstone above her elbow.

Well now the monarch knows… Yellow Diamond now knows that there’s somewhing more wrong with her than just her size. She probably regrets letting her be a part of her unit. ‘Feelings’. All gems had them, yes, but they weren’t tolerated if they made someone behave improperly. The royal General probably isn’t even used to seeing someone cry so much… not unless they’re being affected by Blue Diamond’s powers at least. How come she hasn’t been executed yet?

„I- I’m sorry. I’m so- sorry…” she almost whispered. Miserable and very aware of that she has no right to speak anymore, but she couldn’t stop… „I- I ask for for- forgiveness. F-for mercy- I-’’

„Stop crying.”

Peridot looked up and saw the golden superior gazing at her. Her nonexistent heart stopped when she realized that the Diamond’s brows loosened a little and didn’t show anger anymore… No. The ruler was looking at her carefully and she seemed… _concerned?_

The small technician quickly brought her hands to cover her face, trying to forcefully restrain the tears. _No, impossible._ It didn’t work. She took off her visor and started rubbing her eyes to dry them. _But at least she… doesn’t seem w-wrathful…_

Peridot regained some of her composure and pursed her lips, waiting. Yellow Diamond’s eyes were wandering, looking at something in the distance. She was thinking for a long while before she finally returned her gaze on the small, green gem.

„You will be reduced in rank.” green eyebrown widened in shock „Temporarily.” her jaw dropped. _W-what?_ „Although demoted you are still to wear your mechanical aid.” Peridot faltered, suddenly feeling light as air. „I don’t know why they confiscated it from you…” she heard Yellow Diamond quietly add as if to herself, massaging the place where her nose met forehead in annoyance.

Wh-what?

She couldn’t believe it. She wanted to scream. To laugh. To jump or to fall on the floor. Anything. The excitement she felt was incredible. _Wh- But-_ She wasn’t going to be shattered! _Wh-hahah-y?_ She didn’t care. A simple demotion! TEMPORARY NEVERTHELESS! _Oh my stars!_ Peridot couldn’t restrain a small smile begin to appear on her face. She looked at her Diamond with adoration and pure love – exactly what she felt!

Golden ruler grimaced. „I don’t think I need to add…” she glowered the technician’s way. Peridot immidiately saluted and bowed her head.

„This will **never** happen again, my Diamond.”

Said superior lazily stood up from her throne with a sigh. She straightened herself and looked down tiredly. „That would be all.”

„T-’’ Peridot bowed deeper „Thank you, my Diamond.” she squeaked hurriedly and threw herself running down from the platform and straight to the door.

Once she was outside and she heard the gate close, she froze. She wasn’t able to comprehend what exactly happened. It was so fast! She basically disgraced herself in front of her **Diamond** , AND SHE WAS STILL ALIVE! Stars, was she happy now. She felt like the luckiest gem in the entire universe. And Yellow Diamond? OH _I love her._ All the looks she gave her were so intense. And they didn’t bring her death! Peridot couldn’t stop screaming internally, filled with joy she thought she’d never feel again. _Noone is gonna believe it!_

„Ekhem.” a high pitched voice brought her back to reality. She turned to face Yellow Pearl standing next to her with a bored expression. „Your limb enhancers are waiting in the engineering room number seven.”

Peridot corrected her posture and cleared her throat. „Thank you.” She started walking down the hallway trying to look as calm as she could. But once she went behind a corner she started running again. She was ocassionally jumping in the air, letting her laugh echo between the walls, ignoring all the other gems she passed, that were looking at her as if she lost her mind.

I  
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Yellow Diamond massaged her temples. Yes, she wanted to end this matter as quickly as possible - is why she didn't put up a trial and decided on dealing with it alone. She wasn’t going to shatter the poor engineer in the first place. She was expecting the gem to be terrified, obviously, but the whole outburst…  
It was unbelievable how much this small, seemingly insignificant peridot… her crying… and her words…   
How much they reminded Yellow of someone.


	17. Orchid part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Work is :(  
> Flowers are :)

The doors opened with a quiet swoosh and closed just as quickly. It’s been a fourth time Blue had to run an errand since they started working. It began to really get on her nerves. Yellow Diamond all this time has been standing in the other corner of the laboratory, not really paying attention to where Blue goes. It made the dark coloured ruler wonder - how can the General stay so long in one place without needing to leave for some intervention?

After doing some thinking Blue relized that it’s probably because of her being so well organized _. Yes._ It was truly impressing. Gems from yellow court always are where they should be, and she’s the one who makes sure of that. She assigns them everywhere neccessary and takes no chances of one thing being unsupervised by at least one of her (personally chosen) managers. And so, when an urgent task comes up, she can simply focus on it, without bothering about anything else. Of course she’s been contacting with a her gems multiple times anyway, because she likes to know that everything is alright – and if her help is needed, there’s no problem for her to give a few clarifying orders.

 _Ugh…_ Blue sighed. _I don’t know how she does that._ Gems from her court were almost helpless without her. The dark Diamond’s presence was required few times already, because her subordinates weren’t properly prepared to do their own tasks. _Maybe it’s my fault?_ Blue thought. Maybe it’s because she can’t explain things well, or simply has no patience for it? Is she really not able to manage things that are – and have been her responsibility for all these millions of years?

She’s been wrestling with these thoughts many times. They weren’t strong, nor showing, but they existed. In the deep parts of her mind. Blue even considered asking Yellow for help. She wanted to talk to her fellow Diamond about how to make things better, but that seemed to be an overdoing. It’s not that her court is in any way weak or messy. Her gems were proper, because only such ones she accepted. They knew their purpose, but some jobs needed her supervision from time to time. It wasn’t something uncommon, nor inappropriate. It’s just that for Blue… sometimes… it was a bother.

It would be nice to let herself complain in front of someone. To freely open up, without any serious manner, simply to have a little chit chat. It always made her feel better, a little more at ease, less… tired. Especially with **certain someone** , but…

Blue looked Yellow Diamond’s way and sighed. The golden ruler was standing, leaning over a tall desk. Many screens, sheets and tools laying around, even on the floor. Her Pearl was placed high, near the holographic project her owner was studying at the moment, holding something close to her size in the thin, pale arms. _I don’t even know what that is._ Blue made an indifferent expression. She never had much interest in the most complicated mechanical tools and inventions her counterpart used. There were hundrets of different devices, many had different purpose, and some even had the same, but they still couldn’t be used for the same reasons. Ugh, it was really complex and boring. And yet… Blue couldn’t deny that it was somewhat pleasant to watch Yellow work. She didn’t know why, but at some point she relized it’s not because she likes the sight of the Diamond in general, because there was someone else who also had this feeling.

Yes. She spoke to White Diamond about this once. Well… Not that this specific thing was a main topic of their conversation. It simply… happened to be noticed by both of them. It was one of the times they were all together in one place and had some (what you could call) free time. Well it wasn’t exactly free, but they were all at ease, and with no urgent tasks on their minds. It was nice. They were talking about some star constellations and what do they look like. Such a trivial thing. Still, it was a very enjoyable time spent together. Suprisingly, for all three Diamonds, and they didn’t know why they felt this way, but they liked it. Even White was visibly having a good time, and she was smiling honestly, making Blue feel less and less uncomfortable in her presence every time such an occasion occured.

In any case, suddenly the superior ruler lost a little bit of her good humor, when one of her tech devices on the armrest of her throne started going crazy. She was getting angry, but luckily Yellow rushed to the rescue. The moment she just offered help, White somewhat calmed down. Both her and Blue, standing further near the window, were watching the General while she was neatly arranging small cables and pushing buttons of the machine. Her hands were moving swiftly and her expression was… peaceful. Blue wouldn’t even become aware of it unless she suddenly averted her gaze towards her superior. Their eyes met for a long moment, and they smiled to each other warmly. A silent understanding. And it was sealed later, by White quietly commenting: „Soothing. Isn’t it?” She needed no answer. Blue didn’t quite understand why watching Yellow work sometimes had this effect, but she was glad she was sharing this feeling with someone. All the more – that she was sharing it with White.

At this very moment however, it was not enough to make her feel better. Blue was tired. For the past few months they were working on Homeworld planning, designing, and building constructions needed for the planet’s stability. It’s structure was… breaking. A sad, ugly and expected consequence of the most grand homeworld kindergartens. The power absorbed from there in order to create most perfect gems, was collected in such huge amounts that it was slowly destroying the planet from inside. And it was going to be even worse after the fourth diamond will be created, which Blue was told about some time ago. Nothing suprising, it was a natural order of things – they needed a fourth colour. But Homeworld… It was painful to look at. After all it was their home.

And that’s why the Diamonds needed to ensure that it will never go past it’s breaking poit. Blue and Yellow, after a flow of various events, ended up working in the same palace. White was also under the weight of this matter, but in a different building. They had to design walls, pillars, new paths of labyrinths for future use – so that they will be supporting the ground above and beneath, instead of risking it collapsing. All of it had to be strong enough to last… practically forever, fine enough not to look like uncivilized work, and arranged properly and carefully, so that it would work.

„Do you have that previous draft we approved?” Yellow’s voice let her raise her head from above her own desk. She rummaged through the pile of sheets on it.

„Yes… The two-column one?” she found what she was looking for.

„Yes.”

Blue Pearl was standing nearby waiting for any order her Diamond may give her, which was usually to pass things from one monarch to the other. But this time Blue got up and walked to the General herself. She was bored with all this work. She wanted, for at least a moment, to lay her eyes on something else.

„Here.” she handed the print. Yellow took it quietly, but she hesitated for a moment, weird grimace appeared on her face. It vanished from Blue’s sight when she turned away, so she didn’t pay much attention to it. The diplomat noted Yellow Pearl standing on the huge desk, holding something that looked like calipers. She looked lively, like she was enjoying to be of help while doing something so simple. It made Blue smile, which the assistant didn’t see because she was doing her best trying not to look directly at her. It amused Blue even more.

She made her way around the desk, to the place where her counterpart moved. She knew Yellow didn’t like to be interrupted, but… oh well. She’s going to have to deal with it.  
Blue was searching for right words to ask some tired question, when Yellow lifted her head and made that same strange expression again, her eyebrows furrowed. She looked around herself, with Blue watching her calmly. Eventually their eyes met.

„What’s this scent?” she asked nonplussed.

Blue was surprised. She didn’t usually use her sense of smell if it wasn’t required. But at this moment she was bored enough to do it just because. She leaned over the desk, trying to find what Yellow was talking about. Said Diamond, standing on the opposite side of the table, did the same. Blue wasn’t aware of the fact that her counterpart was slowly closing the distance between their faces until she saw the shining, gold eyes with diamond shaped pupils look right into hers. She didn’t move, not knowing why she was being stared at from a distance of less than a length of her forearm*. But she was taken aback when the other’s eyebrows furrowed slightly angrily.

„It’s coming from you.”

„What!?” Blue jumped away from Yellow. _Excuse me!?_ Gems don’t have a scent, they- „I don-” suddenly she smelled it too. _Oooooh…_ She smiled and grabbed a handful of her pale, sky blue hair.

„It’s orchid.” she laughed heartily, seeing how dumbfounded Yellow was, looking at her, now standing straight.

„I made myself a shampoo from this pretty plant.” Blue started explaining. She was glad she could get her mind off the dull projects for a moment. „A hair care product.” She was playing with strands of her gorgeous hair. „And yes I know they don’t need to be taken care of for no reason” (unless they become dirty or messed because of the weather, fight or an accident) „but I just like it. I really like the flower’s smell. It’s nice, don’t you think?” she smiled, adoring the way Yellow’s eyes widened while she was talking.

The General was looking at her astounded, her expression eventually coming back to its usual, neutral self. „I wouldn’t know.” and she stepped aside, attempting to get back to what she was doing.

 _Ugh, noo…_ Blue saw that her counterpart was right now cought up in her work. It was very common for this Diamond, to have a formal, professional attitude most of the time. Blue was used to it, or rather, used to dealing with it despite her unwillingness for it. But now _oh come on_ …She didn’t even consider.

„It has a moisturizing effect” she didn’t stop smiling, aware of how stubborn both of them can be „I think it even makes my hair shine a little more than usual.” she came closer to Yellow and extended her strands „But it definitely makes them somewhat softer, here~” 

The General looked at her startled, but didn’t move away. She studied the offered mane for a moment and hesitantly raised her hand, letting it gently fall on the light hair.  
Blue looked at her hopefully. Yellow’s expression however, changed into something she wasn’t expecting. Her brows easened, but there was a weight that could be seen in her eyes. **Sad** , yellow face looked down, taking her hand way.

„I don’t know...”

Blue let go of her strands. She sighed, feeling even more tired that she did before. Seeing that her counterpart was in just as bad mood as she was, upset her. And because they were in the same boat, there wasn’t much she could do to change it.

She walked back to her noble chair and reluctantly went back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Raise your arm and place your wrist under your chin.  
> Yellow's face was closer than where your elbow is ;)


	18. Orchid part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Work is :(  
> Blue is :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little humble drawing of mine at the end ;)

They were all under a lot of pressure lately. The workload was not decreasing. Problems solved were being quickly replaced by new ones. So many gems were following their rulers’ orders and working on the case of Homeworld Kindergartens. Lapis lazulis terraforming, peridots calculating, bismuths building, aquamarines monitoring, amethysts, jaspers and other quartzes acting as a supporting strength, and many, many other doing lots of different things. High elite specimens were carefully positioned, delivering detailed reports, and receiving orders to make use of with their units.

Yellow Diamond was used to working incessantly. She was also used to working in stress. But, in theory, there was no need to worry about this matter. The Authority had a few audiences with aristocrats. Sapphires’ visions agreed that the planet will **not** meet its doom. Provided of course, that the work will continue and all safety measures will be taken. Which was exactly what they planned.

The thing that did bother her was a different vision, which the Diamonds had on another case. The fourth ruler, who’s emergence was drawing nearer every rotation. Ideally it was supposed to be red colour, her powers were supposed to be lighter, but still mighty and… well… All in all she was supposed to be proper and rule together with them. A natural order of things. But the sapphires were terrified of what they saw, or more specifically, they were afraid to deliver the message to the Authority. It took quite a long time to call out a few who managed to speak out. The fourth Diamond… was not going to be right.

Yellow believed she should’ve known, because she was aware of the lack of specific substances on the birth planet. She knew the circumstances weren’t the best, and yet, the information startled her. Her superior reacted differently, as few of the mediums lost their lives. She didn’t really want to think about it, since there was nothing she could do. And she spent years figuring this out, calculating whatever she could hundred times, trying to come up with a solution until she saw the sad look White gave her during one of their meetings. The superior ruler tried to hide it, but Yellow knew her better. She knew her the best. And the conclusion was clear – there was nothing she could do.

And that’s why she wanted everything to be perfect now. White wanted everything to be perfect, and Yellow never went for anything less than that. Although she’s been working nonstop for so long, she wasn’t really straining herself. Everything was organised so that the whole project would be carried out carefully and rather calmly. Yellow didn’t like working in chaos or in any mess. She’s been focused on doing her part in the operation for many rotations. It was hard to keep track for how long it’s been since she left the control lab.

The sudden flowerish scent was what suprised her there. She was using her sense of smell to control the methanol concentration in a few test-tubes nearby and to check if her soldering iron was not overheating. _Orchid hmm?_ It was… very contrasting to what she’s been sensing so far. It threw her off a little. No chemical and none of her experiments came even close to this delicate scent.

It was nothing unusual for Blue Diamond to use such products. She enjoyed taking care of her form – her hair especially ( _stars, she has a lot of them_ ) – and she also liked using various organic plants for that. Yellow didn’t mind that. However, she didn’t understand what her counterpart told her. Moisturizing? Makes softer? _What?_ No such thing should affect a gem’s form like that. But maybe she wasn’t sure of it? Perhaps it works different for someone with such luxuriant hair. Yellow wouldn’t be able to tell, since hers is short, never messy and never moved. That’s why she actually put her hand on the other Diamond’s thick strands.

They were, indeed, soft like foam and they felt very nice in touch. But… _They are always like that._ Yellow didn’t feel any difference. She was very familiar with this part of Blue Diamond’s form. Everytime she had her in her arms (which memory of made her feel a weird sensation inside her core), she felt how smooth and delicate her whole body was. Let alone her hair – they looked like they were lighter than air itself.

Maybe it’s because she’s so different? Her armor has no soft parts. Her shoulders are hard and her hair is stiff. Perhaps her sense of touch was affected by it, since she wasn’t able to detect such a change.

Yellow felt even more tired than before. A weight on her shoulders reminded her of its presence. It was one of those very uncommon moments when she contemplated about the severity of her own form.

The thin shadow of this thought accompanied her during work only for a few short minutes. A message from White was the second thing that broke her focus on the project she was evaluating this day.

It came to the tech tablet on the desk on the other side of the room. Yellow quietly put her calipers down and moved towards the elevation where her counterpart was sitting. For reasons she wasn’t able to specify, she held her breath.

Blue Diamond moved so they both could see the draft clearly. Yellow scanned it only briefly and quickly began copying it.

„Wait, I think something doesn’t add up…” said a whisper-like voice.

Yellow looked at her fellow ruler who was looking at the display with her hand on her mouth, deep in thought. Yellow hoped Blue wasn’t going to say anything about the calculations. _That’s not your department._ This data was sent here by White, there’s no pondering about it. Yellow livened up a little. _I don’t want to argue with you._

„Look, here.” Blue moved her finger to point at a certain place on the display. Yellow followed only with her eyes. „This knob on the wall, in this shape it’s not going to support so much weight of the base above it.”

Yellow studied the object quickly, „Yes it is.” and turned to start walking back on her position.

„No, it’s not.” Blue sounded irritated following her counterpart. When the General seemed to have ignored her, she had enough.

„Yellow! You didn’t even look at it.” she gestured angrily at the desk.

Yellow didn’t want the other to go to her station again so she stopped. All of it was just time wasting. She, and everyone else on the planet wanted this whole wearying operation to be over.

„I did and I say it’s fine.” she said tiredly.

„No, you didn’t. White made it, so you just assume that it has no mistakes.” Blue crossed her arms. It wasn’t the first time their conversation went this particular way. Still, it was always unpleasant for both of them.

„White doesn’t make mistakes.” she glared at the other, attempting once again to get back to her work.

„Oh right.” Blue’s voice was higher, she was clearly annoyed. „Because everything she does is always so perfect.” went sarcasm through the gritted teeth.

Yellow unconsciously took a breath to respond angrily, even with an insult. But she was hit by this delicate fragrance she almost forgot about. Somehow the violent response has died deep in her throat.

„Yes…” she said quietly with a calm, almost sad expression. Arguments were always a waste of time. She tried to look at Blue the certain way so she’d realize it too, but it didn’t seem to work.

The Diamond’s eyebrows frowned even more, but Yellow could see that she’s also tired.

„I just want you to take a look at it.” Blue almost hissed.

„Fine.” she turned and opened a screen in front of her so that it would look credible.

„Thank you.” Blue snarled and went towards her own station „I swear this whole thing is a torment…” Yellow heard her mutter.

„Tal-” _-king to you is a torment!_ she wanted to say. But the anger melted before she could finish. She felt the smell of an orchid flower, that was still present around the place where her counterpart stood a while ago. It played with her mind just the right way, making her very unwilling to quarrel more.

Blue however turned quickly, ready for it at this very moment. She looked daggers at the General. „Anything you want to add?” she hissed.

Yellow studied her face carefully. It was always strange to her, that despite Blue Diamond being angry, or even furious, she never looked in any way intimidating to her. Her big azure eyes contrasted with the dark tone of her face in every light. And her hair were flowing freely on her cheeks.

„It…” she picked a tool from the table, and moved to take on the reconstructing of the design once again „does smell nice.”

She didn’t look up, and she heard no answer.

Just like that – the argument was over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About the drawing: You can check out more of my stuff on my tumblr: https://edithvanhopper.tumblr.com/  
> :3


	19. Pool chamber

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Diamonds spend time in Blue's palace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Posting it at 3:33am.

It’s been a good half a cycle since White Diamond came to visit Blue. They found each other near the pool chamber, and that’s where they ended up. The inferior was full of water, having a literal lake instead of floor and there were only a few straight paths that led to the dignified reservoir in the shape of a square. Many decorated pipes were spread here and there, having strong streams of water inside of them.

The superior ruler told the other to fix a few things, appearance wise. The doors were missing an Era 1 Authority symbol, and a few statue walls seemed to be left forgotten in far, dark corners. Of course the whole building was, by no means, any less than beautiful. Blue Diamond liked to please herself. She liked to spend time in her pool, because she liked water. She liked to take care of her hair, because she was really proud of this part of her form. She liked to have some free time for herself. When she was alone without any urgent matters, she had a moment to think, to be at peace and - to rest.

White Diamond knew that, because the two of them (surprisingly) had a few friendly conversations about that. Blue Diamond was always doing her best to present herself properly in front of the bigger gem. She was always nice and smiling. Eventually not even having to fake it as she caught on the way White Diamond is. And she’s – not that bad. Of course she’s the most powerful being existing, which means she is dangerous. But she’s not a wild animal. No. Both Yellow and Blue managed to understand it at some point. The three of them are the only ones who can trust and count on each other simply – just because. The juniors were the only ones who can hold White Diamond’s hand - literally, even if only thanks to their size. White Diamond probably doesn’t see it the way they do, and she probably doesn’t even realize it, but… They love her.

And although the tought has never came out of their mouth – they both wondered if she, at least unconsciously loves them too.

Blue Diamond was sitting not far away inside the pool of crystal clear water, slowly combing her hair. White was leaning on the inside wall of the reservoir, having positioned herself comfortably with her arms loosely crossed. They didn’t say a single word since getting in, and yet they were at ease.

Blue has long accustomed to being in the other’s presence. She was actually pleased with the fact that the superior gem wanted to spend time with her. She didn’t know what this was about, and why White visited, but the grand ruler didn’t seem in any way distressed or angry. They came inside her pool chamber some time ago. Blue simply invited her in. She was happy to see White follow without any resistance. It was different with Yellow – it was usually a long, tiring process of begging and insisting from one side, and of stubborn attitude while saying she doesn’t need nor want to, from the other.

Neither of them seemed to mind the silence. White has called for Yellow and now they were waiting for her. Blue supposed that’s why she isn’t talking, that she wants to start once the second junior shows up. So it was fine.

„Would you like me to brush yours too?” Blue drew the other’s attention on herself, smiling kindly. She knew if she’s in a good mood, there’s a good chance White will be too. Although she already knew the answer…

The grand Diamond snickered, amused with the sudden offer. „No, thank you”. Her hair were perfect without any assistance. ”They’re not very movable.” she smiled. Blue knew that, then why did she ask? _Just to make me laugh?_ It didn’t insult her, no. Eh… _feelingful creature._ White thought it was a proud, magnificent feature of diamond gems. Just like Blue right now changed the direction of her own magic (sad aura), and without even using it, created the opposite reaction. White was pleased.

The smaller one simply returned to her activity.

Few more minutes passed before they eventually heard the door being opened and closed, followed by a calm sound of heels knocking on the floor. Yellow Diamond appeared in front of them in a flash. She obviously came in a hurry, but she stood composed and firm. She studied the view of two Diamonds welcoming her only with a look, Blue smiling much wider. She stayed in place unmoved, waiting, but White didn’t say a word about why they are here.

Blue was now confused as well, not knowing why has White summoned her. Perhaps just to spent some time together? That would be nice.

„Come in.” She looked at Yellow meaningly.

„No, I’m fine.” the General only moved to the other side of the pool and stayed standing there, her arms crossed. She was watching White, who had her eyes closed and looked relaxed. She didn’t want to start asking questions, only to preserve the seemingly peaceful moment.

The superior gem looked up. _Yellow didn’t have much time lately, to collect her Diamond essence._ _There’s an opportunity now. And this method is one of the easiest and more pleasant ones._ She looked the sun colored Diamond into her honey colored eyes, and made a quick move towards the water and back with her own. A form of power without using magic – Yellow slowly made her way inside the pool, sitting at the opposite side, facing White.

Blue was always jealous of it. She’d like to have some sort of authority over her counterpart. Not for anything out of the line, aware that they’re equivalents, but just to have her do the simplest things she’s so reluctant to do. The evil, sad voice inside her head asked her sometimes, if it’s only because White is their superior, or if Yellow simply respects or… likes her more. The tought made Blue uneasy and she felt bad with it.

The three of them were now sitting in silence, noone wanting to interupt whatever was going on inside White Diamond’s head. And she was just leaning there, her expression calm, her eyes fixated on the sky blue surface of water, that was now begining to shine lightly containing the magic substance of rulers, but without any focus.

„Come here~” Blue said quietly, extending a hand to the General. She made peace with the fact that they were all just to enjoy each other’s company while collecting essence.

„No.” Yellow grimaced and started looking at anything else but not the pale azure face. Blue Diamond has frequently tried to get her to let her own hair be brushed. Uncountable number of years and she was never successful. It was really annoying and the older one couldn’t understand why she just doesn’t want to give up on that. They were both stubborn. The was one time when Yellow was actually afraid Blue might even attempt to chase her around the palace with a comb in hand. Fortunately, there was no risk of any of that happening in White’s presence.

Yellow knew that Blue wants to appear most appropriate in front of the grand Diamond.

Blue wouldn’t dare act unsuitably now, but she considered nagging Yellow verbally. After a moment of thought however she decided it not to be a good idea. White has a very similar form of hair, and she might turn to defending the General from her.

The superior gem was watching them, without saying a word. _They get along._ She smiled unconsciously. She was glad. Her juniors were working with each other seamlessly. Although they’re polar opposites, they perform like clockwork wheels. It was… pleasant. Opposite of the risk of them resenting each other and fighting for authority.

She noticed Blue returned her smile cheerfully. She turned her gaze towards Yellow, who after a moment met her eyes. Brows on pale gold face untangled, and she smiled hesitantly too. White was suprised by the gesture they all shared so freely, but it didn’t make her feel anything bad. It was… something on the contrary. **_We_** _… get along._ She let those words form in her head. But she wasn’t sure about that statement.

They’re the Diamond Authority. It’s not their purpose to like each other, they have other goals. White’s expression abandoned the pleasant features while she was thinking. The empire could work just as well even if they all were like emotionless machines. Maybe… maybe even better. Isn’t it just a waste of time to-

Her train of thoughts was interrupted however, by the movement of water caused by two other Diamonds changing their positions. Surprisingly to White, they were approaching **her.** She watched them puzzled while both juniors took seats on her sides. They positioned themselves comfortably, and said nothing.

And they sat like that next to each other. Yellow on the left, Blue on the right. White’s surprise was replaced with amusement. _That’s the opposite placement from the structure of their ships._ And yet… it was fine. There was nothing wrong with that.

And she stayed like that unmoved, hands on her lap. She didn’t know why, but she felt… content while in their presence. _It’s because we’re the same gem type._ Is what she thought, but that statement was not proven by anything.

The whole pool of water has been glowing brightly for some time now. Filled with unmixed colours of white, yellow and blue. Eventually White stood up, letting her hands slightly brush her junior’s shoulders for a brief moment.

She’d never admit it, but she wasn’t very willing to leave. Nevertheless she got out of the reservoir, aware that Yellow and Blue got up after her too.

„Go back to work.” she said, taken aback herself with how soft her voice sounded.

The echo of her high heels was dancing across the chamber’s walls even after she left.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more bellow in the next one don't worry :3


	20. Bystanders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Edited: Can't stop staring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> posting it at 4:25am. I hear the birds chirping.

„Take the one on the left.” said a jasper while bending low to pick up one of the leftover stacks of tiles. A couple of stronger quartzes and free rubies were brought here, to one of Yellow Diamond chambers, in order to fix a part of a building’s wall, that was slightly damaged during a small, recent earthquake that took place close to one of the colony’s bases in which the ruler was currently staying at.

Although it was a rather simple job, the Golden Chalcedony that was supervising them had a really hard time keeping a few younger gems in line. Of course they weren’t actually ‘young’, but it was the first time they were seeing the famous Yellow Diamond in person, as she – not paying any attention to the working unit – was minding her own business at her desk nearby, operating on her panels. And it was, unsurprisingly, an agitating experience. Mostly because those amethysts, rubies and a demantoid were greatly distracted by the strong presence. All the stress accompanying this task was passed on to their supervisor, who was trying to stop them from staring the ruler’s way and focus on carrying the equimpent. She was very close to ripping her hair out. She couldn’t even shout at them, not there. So all the scolding and pressing – she had to deliver whispering through her gritted, white teeth, that the gems upon seeing, thought they might actually break from the pressure.

„Hey…” one of the amethysts whispered leaning closer to one of the rubies, that was taking advantage of the moment when she could stand unmoved, waiting for some tools to be passed to her, and was looking at the place where Yellow Diamond was. The small, red gem wavered, thinking she was going to be reprimanded, but Amethyst didn’t even meet her eye, doing the exact same thing she was a second ago. Ruby returned her gaze, knowing that the tall soldier shared her act of misbehaving.

The General had her weight shifted on one leg, one of her hands was blessing her hip by its presence, and second was swiftly moving through the display of screens. She was standing sideways to them, but her face was barely visible as it was looking down and the other way. Both gems unconsciously focused on the closest thing in their sight – her boots.

„You think she could break the ground with her heel?” Amethyst continued, not breaking her stare, still keeping her voice as quiet as she could.

„Dude, I bet she’s already done that at some point.” Their faces were close to each other to hear, and they couldn’t stop looking the same way.

„Yo, she could kill us all with one kick.”

Ruby finally turned to face her briefly „I know right.” Their eyes met for a second and returned to the luminous Diamond.

„Awesome.” they whispered simultaneously. The moment was however ruined by Chalcedony suddenly grabbing them both harshly by their forms.

„She might not. **But I certainly** **will**.” she hissed, with a furious look giving them a very clear order to get back to work.

Fortunately they were almost done. All that was left to do was to clean up the equipment and the gems were doing it at the moment. Chalcedony was slowly beginning to calm down, knowing that this was going to be over soon, but the sudden, loud sound of steps approaching – broke the last string of hope for her peace. Only one gem could make their walk echo between the halls, not to mention the tone of the most royal chord there is. And the supervisor recognized the specific colour immidiately. Before she could even say another word to her unit – Blue Diamond entered the room, gracing it with a delicate glimmer of her hue, her form covered with a dark cloak, a hood hiding her face from the gems, going straight towards the other ruler.

The word ‘panic’ would be an understatement, while describing the expression on Chalcedony’s face. The monarch probably didn’t even see they are here, saving them from being even more awestruck by the sight of her beautiful face. It was best for them not to let themselves be acknowledged now. Quickly as a whip she jumped to the gems, trying to block their view, gesturing rapidly, instructing them to head towards the exit. Although it was difficult for them to break their staring, they moved, grabbing the lasts of the equipment in a hurry and carrying it outside.

Amethyst took a little too much. She noticed one of the tools slip off the pile in her hands. She couldn’t stop it from falling and she gasped when she realized it. She closed her eyes and prepared for the starforsaken noise she was about to make. But none came. She looked down and saw Ruby, holding the metal device she caught before it reached the ground.

They both let out a deep breath in relief. This sudden thing would certainly make a noise. Loud enough to make **both** Diamonds look the unit’s way. And stars know if that were the case – if gems were able to piss themselves, they would.

I  
I  
I

Blue made her way to the General’s desk. „Good morning.”

„Good mor-” Yellow lifted her head to see only part of the gentle, smiling face „ning…” The other looked at her questioningly.

„Why are you wearing that?” she said with a formal expression, returning to her panels. Blue slowly slid it off the top of her head.

„Because I like to.” she quickly ended the subject knowing that Yellow isn’t that interested in it to push it. And it wasn’t so easy to explain that she doesn’t like being stared at by every gem she passes. Having mere bystanders study her face, and her trying not to look at them to avoid the uncomfortable moment of exposing their misbehaviour, was something Blue didn’t fancy. And she couldn’t even do anything about it, not ask, not reprimand, not punish, because she was aware of Diamonds’ beauty and the effect it had on gems. It wouldn’t be right to forbid them to admire her, as it was only natural.

It was easier to simply put on her vail, so she at least doesn’t have to see it. She’s been ensured of it, when she saw the way all the gems (even hers!) were ogling her counterpart all the time. And it was driving her crazy just as much. She didn’t understand how can Yellow make nothing of it. _Maybe she’s not even aware of it?_ But bringing it up in a conversation would be… weird. So it’s better just to ignore it.

„What are you working on?” she asked with her delicate, whisper-like voice, stepping a little closer.

The response was a low hum Yellow made without lifting her head from the sheet on her desk, most likely too lost in her thoughts to give a specific answer.

Blue unceremoniously raised her hand to the other’s head, and gently stroked her fingers on the side of yellow face, from temple, down to the chin.

„Nothing dangerous I hope.” She liked to imply such things, especially after the incident with an asteroid. It was a good way of letting Yellow know that she **very much** doesn’t want to worry about her like that ever again, also allowing their relationship to be recognized (by both of them) as strong, even for a gem-like, formal one. Some days however, it could also serve a good purpose of teasing the General, which was one of the activities that brought joy to Blue’s life.

The Diamond, frozen a second ago, turned to look at her with furrowed eyebrows „No.” but refused to elaborate. Instead she opened a screen that Blue could recognize as a structure plan of the colony’s kindergarten, proving what she said.

She was aware of the dark coloured Diamond’s behaviour. And it irritated her that sometimes there was just nothing she could do about it. By putting herself in danger then (or at least that’s what White and Blue say, despite her believing everything was calculated and under control) she gave her counterpart an argument that woud make her lose every quarrel. Shall Blue Diamond bring it up while being angry, start crying, yell at Yellow for making her feel like that, ask her if she likes to see her cry – it always made the General withdraw.

And Blue knew that. She knew she had a high ground.

She let her hand fall on the yellow arm, and left it there. „Are you going to be overseeing the newest pyrites’ emergence?”

„I am.” said a tired voice.

„And you’ve already arranged everything for that?” (Supervising gems that were to walk them through their purpose and job, their assignments, statements and equipment.) Blue asked despite already knowing the answer.

„Yes.”

„The batch is due in two cycles.”

Yellow finally straightened up and faced her. She was standing strong, looking mighty, as usual, but Blue could see how exhausted her eyes were. „What’s your point?” she asked, boredly wondering why was Blue asking such obvious questions.

„And you’re already working on something else.” she looked at her pleadingly. Recent events put a strain on all of them - Homeworld’s reconstruction, the news about the fourth Diamond, decades long work – but only Yellow didn’t let herself rest. The current colony didn’t need a lot from them. Yellow could simply wait for something that actually needed her presence, but no. She just had to keep working.

Blue put a second hand on her arm. „Yellow, you need to learn to take a break.”

„I don’t-„

„No, please, listen.” Blue stopped her face from turning by putting a hand on her cheek for a moment „I’m going to send the camera robonoids on the satelite, to check its weather condition. Come watch them with me.” she gently attempted to take Yellow’s hands away from her desk.

„You don’t need me to-”

„No, but I want you to accompany me.” she slowly blocked the other Diamond’s view of screens with her own form, softly maneuvering them both towards the exit.  
Blue could feel just how exhausted Yellow was, judging by how easily she let herself be pushed.

The General sighed „Alright.”

Her counterpart smiled widely at the verbal consent. Managing to persuade Yellow to **at least** try to get her mind off work – was already a success.

I  
I  
I

The unit of gems was not far from the exit when the two rulers left the chamber. The ones that had their hands free saluted, others bowed when the Diamonds passed them walking side to side. They were now free to watch their monarch’s backs before they dissapeared behind a corner.

One could only take a guess how long it took those gems to leave the room already **after** the conversation between the Diamonds started.

One of the amethysts turned to face her friends, wide-eyed, after making sure the Superiors were far enough not to hear.

„Yo… I totally ship them.” she squeaked smiling vividly, which earned her an amused, (but approving) look from some gems, a snorted laugh from others, and a smack on the back of her head from Chalcedony. And she never found out whether the supervisor knew what she meant or did she mistook it for a weird-worded insult.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those Amethysts and Ruby - they're me.
> 
> How do gems know what shipping is? They're thousand years old living beings, who are far more intelligent than humans. There's no reason for their vocabulary to be any less developed, as gems can feel, experience and learn. They socialize all their life and words play a huge part of it even if they've been added to their dictionary without any formal reason, but just to be able to communicate (as they want to, it strictly depends on the gem) with each other.  
> So basically - why wouldn't they?


	21. A break

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> For some it's not so easy to rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3:14am

Yellow was tired. All the work on the infrastructure lasted eons and she still wasn’t satisfied with what she’s done. But White Diamond was. Oh she was pleased with the way they all seemed to take care of the situation. The planet is not going to fall apart, they knew that. No vision said otherwise. And yet… every crack in it was painful to look at.

From what the General has observed so far however, she was the only one to see it that way.

She lifted her head when she heard a grunt of irritation by her side. Blue Diamond was handling her computers while the large screen in front of them showed a dark, rocky surface of one of her satellites. Yellow agreed to come along, because she knew she should pause with her recent project – despite her working on it for days, it still wasn’t looking the way she wanted it to look. She needs to get it off her mind for a while, and then return to it with fresh ideas.

It wasn’t easy though. Yellow often found herself so caught up in work, that when she wasn’t doing it, it felt like she was misbehaving. Not that White has ever pointed out anything of sort – and she was the only one who could. Yellow thought it’s either because she always behaves properly, or because the Superior ruler just doesn’t care about that. Both these options were however strongly questionable in the General’s head.

„What is it?” she tried to focus on why she came here. Blue Diamond didn’t need any assistance. Especially not on such a simple, trivial task. Yellow knew it was just an excuse to make her step away from her workload, but she still wanted to keep her mind busy. She had to be doing **something**.

„Nothing just…” her counterpart sighed and sat heavily, after operating her tech screens for a while „The video isn’t clear.” she rested her head on the back of her throne, giving a clear impression that she gave up. „Methane rain. Not much can be seen.”

Yellow briefly studied the monitor. Apart from a small, visible portion of the dark, rocky ground, most of the view higher was, in fact, blurred by rapidly flying, thick drops of liquid.

„Did you use the algorhythm?”

„Yes, but slowing it down doesn’t make it any better…”

„Not that one.” light coloured Diamond stood up and her hands quickly aimed for the buttons on the desk. „This one.” she barely let Blue take a look before continuing „It clears out all the objects that are moving too fast.” her fingers were moving masterly while she applied the specific formula.

Few moments later the large screen displaying said video changed into a high definition, clean image of dark, greyish green land of the planet. No rain in sight.

„Oooh~” said Blue with her usual, quiet voice „Thank you.”

She probably smiled, but Yellow didn’t see as she once again concentrated on something she can work on.

„The speed can be adjusted in this code.” she pointed at a particular composition of letters, symbols and numbers in gem language „In fact… „ she turned her back at the other ruler „I’ll just add it to all your robonoids.”

Yellow started managing the display, but was interrupted.

„Wha- No, no, no.” blue hand landed on her shoulder „Yellow, you don’t have to-”

„No it’s fine.” Yellow returned to handling the devices. She was moving ably, but hurriedly, as if she wanted to finish before Blue can stop her. Something that can be done. Something that she can work on.

„Yellow, I can do it myself later.” Blue Diamond moved closer, her arm trying to block the gold armor from turning away completely.

„It’s ok. I’ll do it for you now.” she thought she found escape from getting her mind free. _I just want to be busy…_

A sharp grasp of her wrist however put a stop to this illusion. „I don’t need you to do anything for me!”

Yellow halted. She saw angry azure eyes looking into hers. But Blue Diamond seemed furious only for a moment. She loosened her grip, making an expression saying that she regrets her outburst, though it was probably justified. She shut her eyes for a second, tasting words in her mouth. When they opened there was still ire, visible and dancing around black, diamond shaped pupils.

„I said I can do it myself.” the diplomat tried to keep herself calm.

Yellow just stood there, frozen, not in the least enjoying the situation. _Alright…_

„You can do it now.” she said calmly. She saw no reason why couldn’t it be done at the very moment. She didn’t want to be relieving Blue, knowing that it can offend her. But it can be taken care of right away. Why wait?

„I don’t have to do it now.” Blue said carefully, not breaking eye contact with the other. Her hands were slowly maneuvering Yellow’s away from the computer. The General opened her mouth to speak but she quickly intervened „Those robonoids are inactive.” she was doing her best to explain „Yellow, they don’t need any updates until I assign them.”

_Doing it after you assign them is going to waste time. You are free now, you can do it **now**. Why can’t you-_

Yellow sighed heavily. She can’t. She doesn’t want to fight right now. No… She’s too tired. It annoys her. It itches very deep in her core, but she gave in…

Her arms tensed when Blue’s hands grabbed them a little too strongly for her liking. She glared her counterpart’s way. A day will never come when someone makes her do something by using force.

The Azure Diamond seemed to realize that. Blue let go of the General. She sent her way a pleading look, probably hoping that Yellow isn’t going to leave. But the other just returned to the throne, sat down slowly and hid her tired face in her palm.

_How much time till the batch emerges?_ Yellow couldn’t help but to get lost in her thoughts. _Peridots were doing well. It should go smoothly. Then I can go back to the mashine. That part… It disturbs the gears from moving the right way. I can’t get it out cause it supports the base. I could isolate it… maybe polish it? I’m going to need a much smaller sand polisher. Can’t use a different one with this material - it would destroy the surface. Perhaps doing it by hand would be better? I could assign some engineers to-_

A soft touch of Blue Diamond’s hand woke her up. She drew Yellow’s attention by laying it on her stiff shoulder once again.

„Please, listen. I-” she looked shy, trying to find a right way to from her words. Her throne was now positioned right next to Yellow’s, so they were sitting close to each other „I know… that I’m giving you a hard time…” she was making delicate movements with her other hand. Her eyes wandering from the General’s form to the floor, to her own lap, to the back of the throne. „… drawing you away from your work, but I…” after a moment of consideration her free hand also landed on Yellow’s form, gently holding her forearm „I mean well.”

Yellow just stared at her. Motionless. „I can’t stand to see you so exhausted.”

„I’m-”

„No.” Blue quickly interrupted her „Please, don’t deny.” she leaned closer „You overtask yourself. And you don’t have to. I mean… You have no deadlines.” that moment seemed appropriate for Blue to speak what’s been on her mind for a very long time „You are so organised. All your gems work like in the clock. You are ahead of schedule for… at least a few hundred years! You don’t have to hurry with anything. Everything you do is flawless! I mean you are-”

She stopped when she felt a gentle, but firm grip of Yellow’s hand on hers. The General knew where this was going… and she didn’t want to hear it.

Despite Blue Diamond’s advanced skills of making public speeches, Yellow noticed that she makes no use of it when talking to her.

„I’m tired.” she said quietly.

The azure ruler’s expression easened, smiling faintly. She took Yellow’s hand between both of hers.

„You have a moment to get some rest now.” she held her counterpart’s form with no intent of letting go anytime soon.

Yellow knew that, scientifically, physical touch should have no effect, nor should it be of any importance for gems. And yet… if Blue restrained from it, she probably would’ve already left.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Y'all think this conversation is over?  
> Heh  
> It's not.


	22. Memories

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blue helps Yellow take her mind off work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes I know I was supposed to post yesterday.  
> To repay for that - I made this chapter a little longer that usual ;)  
> Hope you'll like it!

She just wanted to help. Blue didn’t know how it was happening, but there were moments when she could feel Yellow’s thoughts. As if her aura was playing with her own in her head. She knew for sure that the other Diamond was tired. And it was also apparent to her that she was troubled. Greatly. The reaction was Blue being worried, or even upset at that sight.

 _What can I do?_ Blue managed to bring the General here, pulling her away from whatever she was working on, but her mind was obviously still back in her own control room, thinking about calculations, tasks, gems, _Homeworld, White…_ perhaps too. It made her feel bad. She also does her duties, all the time and properly, but she never strains herself like this. As deeply and long as Blue thought about that, she couldn’t convince herself that it’s because she’s doing something wrong. No. All the signs kept showing that it’s Yellow, who simply does too much for her own good.

Not to mention everything she does is perfect, is what Blue thought sometimes defeated. All gems need to rest at some point. Especially after working non-stop for a very long time, whatever they do. Yellow, however, seemed to be unfamiliar with this activity. Of course she knows what it is, but she refuses to take it on.

They were sitting like that, thrones next to each other, for a long while now. Blue still had a hand on the other’s arm. At first Yellow looked at the gesture, perhaps studying it. It made Blue wonder if she’s going to reject it and take her arm away, but she didn’t. The General meekly ignored it, letting the azure Diamond’s hand stay where it was. _Well then thank you very much I’m gonna keep it there._

Blue couldn’t tell why, but somehow physical touch (with this certain person at least) made her feel a little better. She experienced it many times already and she was sure. It… wouldn’t be appropriate to ask, but she hoped it has, at least slightly, the same effect on the other side.

„Stop it.” she said gently. It made Yellow look up questioningly.

„Stop thinking about work.”

It made the General burst out with a weak laughter, but it died quickly. She spend a moment regaining her composure, smile disappearing from her face, eyes focused on nothing in particular on the floor.

„Blue.” she lifted her head a little, but didn’t look at the diplomat directly. She looked… sad.

„We’re not supposed to think about anything else.”

_Well, that’s just nonsense._

„Nonsense. Who says so?” White certainly didn’t. And even if she’d like that to be, she never said anything of sort.

Yellow didn’t answer right away, so Blue gave her a look as if she proved her point. But apparently it wasn’t going to be that easy.

„It’s our purpose.” came a gentle response.

_Ugh, excuses!_

„Oh, I’m sorry. Which part of your purpose exactly, say that you have to exhaust yourself with work to the point of breaking?” she tried to sound calm, but even her usual, quiet voice didn’t manage to conceal her determination to resolve this issue.

Yellow finally met her eyes. They didn’t break the contact for a long while. The General’s expression easened, but there was still that sad, tired look in her eyes. She dropped her head and sighed.

„What else is there to think about anyway?”

Blue opened her mouth, but no words came out. She searched for an answer in her head… but she couldn’t find it. Goverment, military, diplomacy and rule enforcement – everything White, Yellow and Blue were in charge of [in correct order] it was all their **work**. Gems, courts, lawsuits, executions, armies, ships, resources, colonies, White Diamond, the newest diamond – those were the things going through Blue’s head, and they were all work related. At some point it actually upset her. She took her hand away and joined the other on her lap. Still thinking how to deliver a proper answer. She started looking around the room, wondering.

„The… stars?”

The view behind a wall-sized window displayed a dark navy sky, with many colorful spots on it. Astronomical bodies millions and millions kilometres away.

Yellow snorted with bored amusement.

„No, please,” Blue tried to get her attention back „they’re pretty.” She knew it was a bad argument even before she said it out loud.

„Potential colonies is what they are.”

_Damn it._

Blue sighed, defeated, and leaned on the back of the throne. She felt disappointed in herself. She got so far, and all for nothing. What is she going to do now? Stay there in silence until Yellow finally decides it’s enough of her nonsense?

„You sounded so confident before.” came a gentle, but firm voice.

 _Yes, yes I get it – I am wrong, because I can’t prove my point, et cetera…_ Blue rolled her eyes.

„So, what do **you** think about? That’s… not work related?” Yellow looked at her with a corner of her honey eye.

It threw her off a little. She already thought about that, but couldn’t find an answer. She started pondering once more. Bringing up the stars again would most likely dig an even deeper hole that she was already in… But she had another chance.

Blue’s mind was working at top speed for a long moment, when suddenly, she was enlightened. Upon finally discovering something she felt so sure about, Blue forgot to think about it further before saying it out loud.

„You.”

Yellow looked at her surprised. The diplomat was staring forward, her mouth forming a straight line and her eyes were wide, as she just realized what she actually said. She met the other’s look without changing her expression. The General’s face showed her being bewildered and at the same time puzzled, as if she was considering the confession.

Eventually she turned away from her counterpart, letting herself lean on the back of the throne. „That’s work related.”

„Wh- No. No, no… Not like that…” Blue started startled. She knew she can’t take it back now, but she was sure of it for a reason! Yellow returned her stare to the azure Diamond. „Like…” _words. WORDS! Find the right words!_ Her vocabulary has never been under so much pressure before. She cleared her throat to try and regain her composure.

„Like when we were on the Androa* colony, and you showed me how a lightning conductor is built. And how later we just sat in the control room and watched the storm form and envelop everything on the surface. I think about that… Or when you were once really angry, having came back from an invading mission. You said there were many flying organic animals bothering you, circling around your head.” Blue smiled at the memory „And it amused me, because you react similarly when I try to brush your hair~” she let out a giggle. „Also those many times when you were helping me calm down, after my… moments… It was nice to listen to you speak, trying to make me feel better… despite it probably making you fall behind with your work. I think about that a lot.”

Blue looked at Yellow, who was greatly confounded, staring at her with a frown. The General seemed confused. Her expression said ‘I don’t understand it.’, although she was definitely **trying** to comprehend the diplomat’s point.

 _Do you not understand it or do you just not want to understand it!?_ Blue thought. But then again… she might’ve gotten off the main subject there. Yellow is not going to think about herself! _Oh no…_ What has she been saying!? This isn’t going to convince Yellow of anything! Now she’s just made things weird. She screamed internally.

Blue was glad that this chamber was rather dark. Perhaps the heat on her cheeks will go unnoticed by her counterpart. She has to fix the situation! But how? Blue herself understands her arguments – she told the truth after all. Yellow however, doesn’t see things the same way, so it’s difficult for her to grasp it. They think and act differently. They’re each other’s opposites.

How to explain it? What example can she give? The moments that make her feel better now, because they made her feel better back when they took place. Those pleasant memories… Yellow might not understand, bacuse she doesn’t see her own actions like Blue does. What else can the diplomat bring up? What would be something that the General can consider as a good recollection?

_Perhaps…_

„Remember when we were all together in White’s palace? All three of us? We were talking about star constellations and it was really nice? Even White was having a good time. She showed us her colony, that was visible on the sky even though it’s in a different sector.” Blue felt her form relax a bit upon seeing that the other’s face began losing the frown. „Or when we were at my pool. White called for you and then we just… sat there? Like – she didn’t have to, but apparently she wanted to… spend some time with us… And we both noticed that something troubles her mind, so we sat closer and she looked like she was content with that.” Yellow’s face easened almost completely, as she was now looking at the floor and carefully listening. „Those are all nice memories. And I like to look back at them.”

She finished feeling relieved that her counterpart’s air didn’t imply that she was still so confused. Blue hoped her speech actually managed to achieve something, but at the same time she wished Yellow would forget about the first part of it. _Oh Yellow please don’t dwell on that…_ The diplomat felt a little embarrassed about it. And it could turn into terror if the General misunderstood what she said. Then their relations would start being very awkward, not to mention Yellow’s possible reaction to it. Is she going to be angry? Disgusted? Will she reprimand Blue for her silly ideas and accuse her of being inappropriate? _Oh no no no…_

That’s why Blue needed her to understand what she meant. And she didn’t mean anything bad! _I’m not improper!_ _I’m just trying to help!_

„They are.”

 _Oh, thank the stars…_ Blue finally felt relief - Yellow looked calm. Lost in her thoughts, but definitely not displeased.

At some point she started thinking however… The General felt better when recalling all those moments with **White** Diamond. Of course, Blue was there with them too, but… Does Yellow not feel that way when there’s only the two of them? The azure monarch had plenty of such memories. Somehow, a possibility that her counterpart doesn’t also see them as nice, moved a bad string in her mind.

It’s good that Yellow is capable of remembering those moments and enjoying them, but… only with White? _Am I overthinking things again? Most likely…_ Blue felt content in their Superior’s presence too. She really likes spending time with her at certain times, and she adores those memories forever. But at the same time… Is she not as good as her?

„I remember when…” Yellow’s voice woke her up from this unpleasant train of insecure thoughts „when you got on your space ship for the first time.”

_Wow. That’s a… very, **very** old recollection._

„You were a little… too excited and almost broke off your fingers.” she was smiling while she spoke „It took us a while to stabilize the craft, but eventually you got a hang of it. And then we carried on to fly around Homeworld. You looked happy… and I was glad.” There was a twinkle in her golden eyes. She looked really pleased.

„Yes!” Blue grabbed her arm in joy „Exactly! See? Those nice memories are something to think about~” she was grinning with purest form of delight in her eyes.

Yellow lowered her head in agreement. She showed Blue that gentle smile of hers. „I see.”

Their faces were close to each other, and something in the back of Blue’s head prompted her to move forward. _Huh?_

She stopped herself, appearing unbaffled outside, but…

Sudden move of Yellow’s form interrupted her. She made a motion with her hand, lifting it up to the side of her head, as if she was listening to something.

„The batch is coming. I have to go.” she said standing up from her throne.

The azure Diamond, altough slightly dissapointed, understood the importance of their duties. She also stood up, and watched her counterpart leave. Blue was actually really glad. She managed to achieve what she wanted (however difficult that was). It could proudly be considered a success.

But that thing… A moment ago. _What was that?_

„And…” Yellow drew the other’s attention on herself, standing just in front of the exit „I’m honored… that I’m able to provide you with a set of… nice” she was repeating Blue’s words „ …work unrelated memories.”

The diplomat was smiling too widely to respond to that, so she just watched the other disappear behind the door, as the General decided she doesn’t need her answer and left.

And Blue didn’t mind that. No. She felt happy with how thing turned out.

She sat back on her throne and moved towards the desk, attempting to get back to her own work too. Was that the light, or was Yellow’s cheek a little darker colour than usual for a moment? Blue fixed her posture while opening her screens.

_I must be imagining things._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1)Androa* - just a name of a colony. Doesn't mean anything.
> 
> In nature, it takes a diamond approximately between 1 billion and 3,3 billion years to form.  
> In this universe, thanks to magic and highly developed technology, the process of creating a (live) diamond is much, much shorter, but it's still a matter of AT LEAST a few dozen thousand years.


	23. Pearls 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Standpoint of one of the Diamonds' little helpers ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I haven't been updating for a while - I'm struggling with finals :(  
> But I assure you this story isn't and won't be abandoned!
> 
> On the side note: "The Diamonds share one braincell and it's Blue's turn to use it." - is the winner of the comments under the previous chapter. Made me laugh :D
> 
> Posting at 3:18am

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Slow, quiet motions of Blue Pearl’s hands on two of her small screens, resembled something that could be called a rhythm when she was working. She was standing on the huge (diamond sized) desk, staying away from the middle of it, where Yellow Diamond has left most of the mess of her workload (whatever it was. Pearl had no idea and was in no way interested to check), but also not too close to the edge, as falling off would most certainly break or hurt her. Yes, she found herself left in on of the golden ruler’s chambers. It wasn’t the first time it happened. The two monarchs didn’t make a habit of letting their assistants be, but at the same time it wasn’t unusual for them to go somewhere else in order to have at least the shortest moment of privacy from time to time.

And Pearl didn’t mind that. The loyalty, respect, and (let’s be honest) adoration she had for her owner had no limits. Pearls, as a gem type, didn’t have much of a chance of standing high in the hierarchy. The universal ranking described them as servants and, as hurtful as it sounds - a decoration. Their purpose was to assist, obey and behave. They were always under some certain person they were assigned to, who was their superior, supervisor, basically – their owner. The fate and the way of living a pearl had was strictly dependent on who she belonged to. How she was treated and what type of work was her responsibility. Only if she was lucky, she wasn’t being despised, harmed, insulted and treated almost like an object by her possessor – and what comes with that, by everyone else too.

It sounds terrible and scary, yes. But there are exceptions. And such exemplary exceptions were the most unexpected gems in the universe – the Diamonds. Being the most important, powerful and responsible specimens existing, it would be implied that their pearls have the worst there can be for a life. That they only stand in their owners’ way, bother them by simply existing, don’t serve much of a purpose (because compared to the Diamonds, they’re useless), and must frequently be punished for that. However, in reality – that wasn’t the case at all.

Pearl herself was suprised when she learned that her owner was very far from a tyrant. Before she was officially given to her, she heard many warnings from a few other gems, advices and tips on how not to anger a Diamond. Of course, she was always following the most important savoir-vivre rules (like every gem relative to any superior had to), but she never actually had to apply any methods of self defense, begging for mercy or running away that had been suggested by others. Only after seeing it for herself, she knew that most of what she heard about the Authority, is exaggerated rubbish.

_‘They get angry very easily.’_ That’s true - if you don’t follow orders they give you; if you go against them; if you misbehave. But what else could be expected from such actions? Praise maybe? Ridiculous. Such consequences are **nothing** unexpected. The Diamonds stand on guard of balance in this world. They are the ones who give our life a purpose (because what is life without it?), and then protect it, groom it, and – as surprising as it can sound for some – value it.

Yes, they get angry – but their Pearls are never the recipients. They’re simply not the cause of it. Obviously, it’s very intimidating to accompany a Diamond in such state, but no matter how enraged a monarch was, her pearl was immune to harm. The blue assistant even found herself able and priveleged to attempt helping Blue Diamond calm down a few times, as if they were on friendly terms.

In truth however, through her whole life there was only one incident when she got hurt. And it lasted only a moment, a quick flash and then she felt nothing more until she reformed in the Reef. It was an accident. Blue Diamond wasn’t upset often. This time her aura hit stronger than ever, as if she’s been holding herself back for too long and suddenly the string broke when she finally found herself in privacy of her chambers. Blue Pearl didn’t have much of physical ability – her form gave up easily and she returned to her gem quickly, without experiencing the torture of this power. To her surprise she’s been returned to her owner, and to even greater astonishment – she’s been apologized to.

Action unheard of. And yet – Blue Diamond seemed very relieved upon seeing her little helper. She covered the space around her with her hand, like she tried to gently hold the air and Pearl herself. She said sorry, with a honestly regretful, but joyful smile on her face.

The adressee had her shock replaced by pure happiness. She was glad she was able to go back to her Diamond, and she felt blissed that this feeling was reciprocated. Her owner cared about her, and that was all a pearl needed to make her life worth living.

That moment was a lucky reunion, because – as Blue Pearl found out later – there was risk that she wouldn’t be going to serve under the azure ruler again after this accident. The information reached her from some other friendly gems she was able to socialize with, and even the Yellow Pearl.

„Are you alright?” came a very quiet, but confident voice from the golden monarch’s personal assistant once when they were seeing each other during the Diamonds’ audience, and allowed to stand close while their possessors were talking a significant distance further.

„Ah… Yes. Thank you.” Blue Pearl responded shyly.

„I’m glad I was able to come back.” She added. She already heard from others, that it was a surprise. Rumors spread that even White Diamond appeared in the picture, supposedly scolding (as exaggerated word as court gems used in their gossiping) Blue Diamond for what happened. Apparently insisting that she is to get a different pearl, while this one will be assigned somewhere else.

The tiny, pale blue gem to this day didn’t know what made her change her mind on that.

„My Diamond had a say in the matter.”

_Huh? Really?_ Blue Pearl thought startled. _Yellow Diamond herself, stood up for me?_ The dumbfounded look on her face prompted the other to say more, all the time whispering and watching if the rulers aren’t glancing their way.

„She reasoned that it was an unwanted accident, eventually managing to defend Blue Diamond and that being so – letting you return.”

That left Blue Pearl even more amazed than before. She knew that Yellow Pearl had a habit of overpraising everything her owner does – but she never lies. A **second** Diamond refering to a formal case for **her** sake?

„I… I had no idea.” she stated truthfully „Why would she do that?” she couldn’t help but ask.

Yellow Pearl snorted noiselessly „Because it was true? She was there after all. She’s the one who sent you to the Reef.” after that she straightened herself, as she noticed that her Diamond seemed to move their way.

_Oooh…_ _So she saw what happened._ That makes sense. She had the right to protect Blue Diamond, but to stand up for a pearl too? _That’s…_ No matter what she tried to come up with, the only thing she felt at the moment – was happiness. _Unexplainable?_

Blue Pearl stood motionless. She was now also aware that Yellow Diamond was approaching the place where the assistants were standing.

Does the golden General appreciate her as a pearl? She was now brainstorming under the smooth bowl of her hair. That would make already **two** highest standing beings existing, that not only respect, but **care** about her life. _Isn’t that too good to be true?_

Yellow Diamond closed the distance and raised her open palm in front of them, so that the warm colored gem could get on. It was usual for her to carry her Pearl like that, much to the receiver’s delight.

Blue Pearl thought she’d like to thank the monarch, but she knew her place. She had no right to speak unless spoken to, even more so to a Diamond that she doesn’t belong to. Although still a little shaken, she knew that she shouldn’t ponder about it too much.

But the yellow hand didn’t move, even though the other assistant was already on it. Blue Pearl quickly reacted lifting her head up, and saw the sun colored ruler looking straight into where her eyes would be, covered by thick bangs. The honey stare was calm and unreadable, but the gesture obvious.

_Oh!_ Blue Pearl timidly rushed forward. She hurriedly got on the gloved fingers, but not being used to being carried – decided to fall on her knees.

Yellow Diamond only made sure that she has enough balance not to fall off [not that she would let that happen], and started walking back to the other rulers. Her hold was steady. Blue Pearl didn’t have enough confidence to try and stand up again, so she (very slowly) sat on the palm – as gracefully as she could, not to appear vulgar or uncivilized.  
To her relief the monarch didn’t mind that, and the other Pearl even gave her a reassuring look. She smiled to herself.

It was an example set that day, by the Diamonds themselves. All the gems, even lower class, deserved to be respected. How you treat a subject assigned to you personally – represented your own value as a person. Mistreating your pearl – was a disgrace.

I  
I  
I

Blue assistant was writing and re-reading her statements carefully. Arranging all the files neatly. Sending and redirecting assignments and orders that her Diamond authorized and left her with – faithfully. No hurry whatsoever.

It was a very opposite to how Yellow Pearl was working. She had more screens open before her. Clicking, swiping, reading, writing - non stop. Similar to her owner, is what her counterpart thought.

Since they were left her she even managed to make a few calls. On buiseness matters of course.

The other wasn’t paying much attention to that, mostly focusing on her own tasks, but she did notice, with a corner of her eye, that Yellow Pearl has been stealing glances her way for some time now. At one point she decided to catch her in the act.

„Can I help you?” she asked innocently.

„What are you even doing?” yellow face showed a grimace.

_I’m sorry?_ Blue Pearl thought disturbed. She didn’t quite understand the question.

„I’m working.” she said.

It resulted with Yellow Pearl letting out a loud snicker. „Is that how you work?” she cocked her eybrow „Are you really given this little to do?”

_Oooh~_ It’s about her way of working – calmly. The blue gem was very much aware of the difference in their attitude. She did her work carefully, but with no rush. Yellow Pearl on the other hand, although also with no mistakes – worked fast, as if she was baing chased by something.

The cold coloured assistant was also aware how much it annoys the other to see that. For whatever reason.

„I’m sorry I’m not a workaholic like you~” There was no sight of ire in her voice. It was soft and quiet, as always. She doesn’t familiarize with arguing. „or your Diamond.”

There could be heard a click of anger in the other’s form as she halted and straightened herself suddenly. Clear, raging thunderstruck visible on her face. Blue Pearl smiled to herself. _Sensitive spot_ \- was Yellow Pearl’s Diamond.

„Well…” warm colored gem breathed „At least she doesn’t waste any time by fawning over her counterpart.” she turned away, attempting to get back to her display „Unlike yours.”

Blue Pearl wanted to respond somehow for a moment, but she couldn’t, because what the other said – was true.

It was a very accurate remark about her Diamond’s behaviour. It was funny that the other gem also noticed that. Pearl knew that, and so she only giggled gaily at the comment, which left her friend baffled for a long minute, before they both went back to work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those who felt lost with the way this chapter was writen: First was present, then Blue Pearl's memories, then again present.
> 
> I had fun writing this. Hope you did too reading ;)


	24. Comfort

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yellow doesn't know what to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my precious dumplings <3 I'M BACK FROM THE DEAD.  
> Yea, you heard me.  
> Gonna try to pull myself together and get back to posting one chapter every week (+/- 1 day).
> 
> Enjoy :')

She marched through the palace halls with fake confidence all over her face. It was already difficult enough in solitude, and the passing gems weren’t making things any easier. The Diamond Authority was supposed to set an example of perfection, but **this** … has put all of it under a question mark.

So they settled on pretending everything is fine. Perfect plan… Acting as if everything was dutifully arranged and took place exactly the way it should. A strain and a huge weight put on the Diamonds’ shoulders. But then again… Who can call out any of their wrongs? Nobody.

No one, no matter how high standing can even dare to think of doing so. They are the ones on top of hierarchy. They didn’t put themselves there. It wasn’t their decision. No. It’s just how things are. How things are supposed to be.

They rule just because they’re diamonds? It would be such a simple, pretty assumption. But it’s not about the gem type. It’s about what comes with it. The strength, the power, the wisdom, the so infinite, countless abilities – like the ones to rule and lead the rest of the gem kind. It’s what’s needed for the empire to grow. And it has to grow strong. Mighty. **Perfect**.

Nobody asked them whether or not they want to be monarchs. Nor if they want to be the diamond type. They emerged like that, without having any say in the matter. They were born to be what they are. Any gem claiming they would much prefer to be like them, didn’t even realize how wrong she was.

The trait that most strongly affects such daydreams was probably their size. Not only a gem being, but literally every living creature stands by the feeling that the bigger – the stronger they are. Yes, obviously. That feature makes the diamonds stand out from the crowd the most. And by that it also means it’s very difficult for them to attempt such actions as hiding, sneaking, avoiding any unwanted interactions or trying to go unnoticed in any way. Sometimes it would really help if they could do it. But the reality was that – they couldn’t. As much as having some privacy was a blessed feeling, they were deprived of that most of the time. The Diamonds, unasked, unquestioned, unspoken of – taught themselves to deal with it. They accustomed to being constantly stared at and not having any of their moves go unnoticed. As annoying as it used to be, it quickly became a normality. Even Blue Diamond managed to bear with it. She, being the one who it irritated the most, simply made a habit of wearing a veil all over herself, which made a clear point that she doesn’t like being gawked at. Of course it didn’t achieve much, as it couldn’t actually stop anyone, but it made it easier for her to tolerate it.

Private conversations? Rarest of the rare. Partly because there weren’t many occasions when they were able to be together in one place. Managing the empire could not be done from only one position. Their life consists of travelling, exchanging workplaces and communicating mostly only via network.

Then again, being immortal, supreme species – having countless millenniums on their back – it’s not like they don’t know how to successfully take advantage of it. Yellow was doing it right now. Knowing that White certainly didn’t leave her palace and stayed in one of her chambers, the General felt the irresistible need to check on her. The superior is most likely alone, giving them an uncommon chance to talk in peace and quiet. And if she’s not – Yellow today has no patience whatsoever. She’ll throw anyone bothering them out of the window, no questions asked.

She herself didn’t… feel so well. Her head felt light, in a bad way. She wasn’t able to fully concentrate nor comprehend what happened. And despite that, her whole body seemed to be heavier than usual. Every step she took left uncalled for vibrations in the legs of her form. Her knees and back whispering to slow down, the sensation of stress filling her to the core, suggesting she might eventually fall down, or apart.

But she didn’t stop.

The march she was presenting to the walls of dozens of corridors was something worthy and characteristic for a golden Commander in Chief that she was. Not it any way implying the worry she felt. The only thing that might’ve revealed it, was the look in her eyes.

Yellow approached the door, determined to get in touch with White. She could sense her presence from outside, not being at all surprised that the superior Diamond remained in one of her control rooms. Although a place officially designed for business, it was usually deprived of any other gems but herself, making it more of a personal chamber.

The General came inside. There however she slowed down, but still, persistent on her goal did not stop and continued walking towards the glowing, chaste form that was sitting on the throne.

White always sat with her back straight. Way appropriate for a being her size, might, and appearance. Her legs hugging each other close, ending at her high heels touching the ground, one being a mirrored reflection of the second. Her hands were laying comfortably but firmly on the armrests. Fingers with black, long nails at its tips grasping the ends of it for no other reason than her wanting to hold on to something.

Yellow closed the distance between them. And even though the other Diamond had no way of not being aware of her presence, she did not show the acknowledgement in any way.

With White staying seated, the sun colored monarch standing by her side was able to meet her eyes on the same height. Yellow studied them and her whole face with impatience growing inside her core. Despite everything that happened, everything that they were met with and what they were now responsible for because of it – White’s expression showed nothing. It was stoic. Her eyes directed at the display of the event’s data, but truly they weren’t reading or seeing anything. She was clearly lost in her thoughts. Once again closed inside her own head, whatever terrible things were happening there.

Yellow felt nervous enough today, but now it added to being sad and… concerned for the other. She knew White always keeps to herself. Always being a rather introverted person. Especially about her feelings. Perhaps it was because she was disgusted or ashamed that she even experiences emotions, is what Yellow thought, but she could tell that, despite White trying so hard to hide it – she **does** have them. Her features, form and demeanor made it hard to read though. It was even difficult for the other Diamonds to see her aura, because of how withdrawn she was.

The General stood like that in silence for a few, very long moments. White said nothing. She didn’t even move.

_I guess it’s my cue to start…_

“I finished designing the adjustments on equipment and furniture.” A slight movement of White’s eyelid was the only sign that proved she was listening. “My gems are already working on that. It all should be completed within a day or two… Along with various amenities.”

After several, painful seconds of anticipation came the response.

“Good.”

And nothing else. The shiny Diamond didn’t even move to look at her. Mirror-like eyes blindly staring forward.

It took Yellow another moment to gather herself and speak again.

“Blue is giving her a tour around the mansions at the moment.”

That was met with no answer. No nod or any other motion that could show the General what does she have to do next. White refused to cooperate.

Yellow, although she couldn’t see the other’s aura, knew how she felt right now. The Superior surrounded herself with dark, negative air that wasn’t visible to the eye. She wasn’t angry. She wasn’t annoyed. No. She was… upset. In whatever way it could’ve been described: disappointment, shame, sorrow, worry, perhaps fear? Yellow wasn’t able to tell. All she was able to be sure of was that it was bad. White felt bad. And that itself was enough for her junior to feel bad too.

She loves White Diamond. They never learned about affection. Gems aren’t born with that knowledge. But Yellow lived long enough to be aware of it for a long time – most of her life now. The respect she has for her. The loyalty and devotion towards the only existing person who stands above her. Yellow would do anything for White. Would follow any order she gave her. But most importantly – what made her realize that it’s love, and not just a blind following with her purpose – she wanted her to be happy.

Yellow would do anything for White to be happy.

It wasn’t part of their duties as the Authority. They didn’t have this in their inborn data. And yet… Yellow felt most content when the other was smiling.

Yes, at first it was something that made her feel uncomfortable. She thought that smile looked… uneasy and even scary. But with time she realized she was wrong. It was just White’s feature that made such an impression. Her glowing form with pitch black lips and long eyelashes. Her silver, glowing eyes with white, diamond shaped pupils, and the overall lively demeanor. It was something Yellow simply had to get used to, and when she did – it was nice.

Yellow felt happy when White was happy. And that followed a simple calculation: White is happy when things are going right. Things are going right when everything is perfect. And therefore: Yellow needs to make sure everything is perfect.

Now, however, she had no idea what to do next. She already designed everything, gave out orders, submitted reports and despite the whole event being rather unprecedented and surprising – she carried it out flawlessly.

But still, even though she tried so hard, White right now, was not happy.

The General couldn’t really blame her. It was actually expected and normal for her to feel this way considering what happened. And yet, there Yellow was, trying to figure out how to make things at least slightly less painful. She couldn’t stand seeing her Superior like this.

 _What do I do?_ The sun colored monarch needed guidance, but she had none at the moment. She was brainstorming for a long while before a thought came into her mind.

 _It… works for Blue and me…_ She looked at the hand that was laying unmoved on the end of the armrest closest to her. … _Sort of._ The glowed forearm moved forward hesitantly. _Maybe..?_ Yellow put her hand on the other’s gently.

It was something that finally received a reaction from White. She moved her head slowly to look at the gesture. Yellow, upon seeing no anger or disgust on her face – most likely lost her mind as she moved even closer and put her other arm around White’s neck. Giving her the lightest, most delicate touch she could, that was enough to attempt at bringing some comfort, but not enough to repulse her if she decided that she doesn’t welcome it.

“It’s… going to be okay.” Yellow said quietly. White didn’t move.

 _What am I doing!?_ The General suddenly came to her senses, but she couldn’t just jump away now? _I am so out of place!_ She slowly withdrew herself from the hug… but bravely decided to keep her mind set on the way she chose to resolve things. The Superior Diamond was now able to look at her. Her silver eyes were wide, mouth slightly open, as if she wasn’t sure what just happened. She was definitely surprised, but not repelled. Which brought Yellow a sweet, small feeling of relief. She kept her hand on White’s for a moment longer, appearing unbaffled on the outside.

“We’ll… work through it.” She smiled, trying, but so not knowing how to make White feel better. “Everything’s going to be fine.” Yellow straightened herself. “We’ll make it right… We’ll make it perfect. Just like you want it to be.” She gently squeezed the white hand for the last time and smiled as confidently as she could fake it, before she turned towards the exit. Not showing, but aware of the fact that when she said ‘we’, she meant ‘I’.

She knew there wasn’t much to come from White at the moment, so she’s going to get back to work. Although the Superior is very welcome to stop her. _Anything, White… You can say anything…_ Yellow even accepted the thought of the other blowing up at her, furious, questioning what she just dared to do. But nothing of sort happened when she was walking away.

Even though White managed to keep her usual, bright posture and attitude during the whole event, it definitely drained her mentally. That’s why now she was in that state…

And what happened?

The fourth Diamond emerged.

And she emerged… wrong.

Yes, they knew that would happen beforehand, but… not to such an extent.

The newest name… the newest colour – even this wasn’t right. There was no point in calling her Red if she wasn’t it… So they settled on calling her by what she was…

Pink.

Pink Diamond.

Yellow sighed heavily once she was outside of the palace. She was questioning her own actions, but most of all she still felt bad. She felt helpless and sad. She wasn’t able to help White at all… Perhaps she wasn’t meant to take the path she took. Maybe it was just to work for her and nothing else. _Eh… I’m really not good at that… ‘comfort’ thing._ It made her wonder how she was ever able to deal with Blue that way. _Maybe it’s because we’re on the same level…_

Her mind was exhausted, and she was about to jump into a workload of size she was never met with before. _Oh well…_ As upset and disappointed in herself as she was, because of not being able to make White feel better, which hurt her dearly – she was already used to being constantly tired.

Yellow would never know, that after she left the control room, a single, shiny tear made her way out of one of the bright, silver eyes that she adored so much, only to flow across the white cheek and fall on its owner's lap.  
  



	25. The event

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The newest Diamond's emergence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I added a fanart to chapter 12! GO CHECK IT OUT!

It was… difficult.

Not the contact in general, but to deal with the rushing streams of different emotions Blue was feeling.

It’s like… everything changed ever since the event of the newest Diamond’s emergence. Official part of it at least, because no one has yet shaken it off entirely. The whole thing lasted only a few days but… felt like eternity.

The Authority has taken part in it whole. All three of them. But they did not took on the contact with her together. No. They joined in one by one, and moreover - in an offbeat sequence. Yellow went to meet her first. By White’s word. Blue thought of it a little strange. She knew that, until now, the older one before the born one was the person who attempted the first touch. By that logic **she** was the one who should go for the newest Diamond. But then again… That one was exceptional.

Despite this weird set of things she wasn’t very disappointed. She knew it would be… difficult, considering the circumstances of the newest Diamond’s… errors. Blue wasn’t feeling up to doing it at all actually. What slightly surprised her was the fact that White didn’t do it herself. Perhaps it was because Yellow did so well the last time? She really did. Blue had no way of knowing how did **White** welcome the General. She never asked. But… maybe Yellow did a little better? Maybe it was proper to send someone the same size, instead of their Superior. Well… She and Yellow **were** the same size. This time however things has taken a… sadly expected, but nevertheless horrifying turn.

Blue was sent to join Yellow after some time has passed. She knew White was waiting for her right hand’s silent, subtle signal saying that she’s done what she had to do alone, and that the rest of them can approach. It was most likely a telepathic message, which the Diamonds were capable of in relation to their auras. Still, the highest monarch chose to stay behind, and told Blue to go first.

The azure Diamond was perplexed while coming over to where her counterpart was standing. The reason behind that was because she saw no one else around her. Blue didn’t know why was Yellow standing alone. Where was the newest Diamond? She was only able to see the others back while approaching, and she was… looking down?

Why was Yellow looking down? Blue started to feel horror about what happened. Did that diamond not emerge yet? But… they had proof that she did. Then, where was she? _Oh no…_ Did she come out… _a dead gem*?_ Did the basis break her form? Did she emerged the wrong way and… _shattered herself_ while coming out!?

Blue was full of such insecure, terrifying thoughts, but she kept her pace calm, mimicking the air that was around the position her counterpart was standing in. Yellow clearly wasn’t panicking, so she can’t too. She closed the distance and came fairly close to the other, before she froze in her step right next to her.

In front of the General’s brown boots stood a person. It was… a very small person. No wonder she couldn’t see her before – Yellow towered over her.

That’s… the newest Diamond? And she’s… pink? Why was she pink? And why was she so small? _Oh spectrum of nebula* what happened!?_

Yes, they knew she was going to have flaws, but those were errors that couldn’t even be hidden! Nor fixed! Blue didn’t study the calculations as thoroughly as Yellow and White, but they certainly didn’t expect something like that either! I mean, they’d tell her if they knew! Blue thought that the newest Diamond was going to be… more emotional, like her! That she’s going to have troubles controlling her power like she does! That maybe she would feel a little out of touch and different from her purpose… and maybe they could talk about it together and help each other – being in the same boat! But this!?

That diamond emerged the same way as the rest of them did – from the ground. All the other gems require large, closed structures of base, like mountains and rocky hills. But the diamond gem needed a much, much bigger, open space. No mountain would suffice. And so the biggest possible volume of bedding for birth – was the ground itself. Everything under the flat surface all the other elevations laid on. That way a diamond had unlimited room for absorbing all the substances. Magical or not.

_What happened?_ Blue couldn’t help but suddenly feel helpless. How come this diamond is so… wrong?

“This is Blue Diamond,” Yellow’s voice woke her up from this paralyzing shock. “another member of the Authority.”

Realizing the weight of the situation she was in was like an ice-cold waterfall suddenly falling on her back. Just like she learned to so long ago, she quickly gathered herself up.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you.” Blue said looking carefully into this tiny eyes of the person standing below them. She smiled politely, out of habit.

The addressee returned the gesture shyly. “Hi.”

She can talk. Alright, good, thank the stars. It was, of course… an informal greeting. Quite out of place in this situation to be honest. But it was a **technically** correct answer.

Okay maybe it’s not such a big deal that she’s small. It doesn’t even look like her colour is a tragedy. _I mean… It’s close **enough**._ She can still create gems of the proper shade. Her powers also might not be a problem. The argument was that they never met a red diamond, so the truth was they couldn’t know what her magic looks like. But she doesn’t need a lot of it for sure. Not with her position in the Authority. She was never supposed to be like Yellow, so she’s not going to have to fight or anything.

We’ll just have to learn not to accidently step on her. That’s it. Also maybe adjust the furniture and her tech equipment, but that shouldn’t be a problem. She can still do her work properly, her size (thank the stars) will not affect it, by no means.

Alright… Blue began to slowly force herself to feel calm. Unusual for her was to think clearly in such a disturbing situation, but she managed to form a dispute with herself in her head. Maybe… _it’s going to be okay._

“Did you recognize her?” Yellow asked the other in order to, at least slightly, test her ability to distinguish various types of gems.

“Yes.” The tiny person said looking up, her eyes jumping from one Diamond to the other.

_Well, that’s not much of an achievement._ Blue thought, since she is the only blue diamond existing. Quite easy to recognize.

“But… that wasn’t very difficult.” The pink gem brought even more attention to herself when she began to speak. She was doing a gesture of massaging the back of her neck with one hand, looking up at them and bashfully smiling. “Because she’s the only one. Heh.”

_Oh?_

_Oh!_ _Alright!_ Blue thought happily. _She has coherent speech. Clearly she’s intelligent enough, despite her defects. That’s good! This is good._ The azure Diamond began to feel a little better. _Of course her parlance is… not very appropriate, very informal. But it’s fluent!_

“That’s true.” Yellow agreed.  
 _Oh she’s good._ Blue noticed a while ago already, that her counterpart was calm and completely in control of the situation. Clearly, despite being alone and all the other circumstances, she made a good connection with the newest Diamond. _Thank the stars she’s the one who went first._ The diplomat didn’t think she’d be able to do as well as she did if the roles were reversed.

“Do you recognize the name ‘White Diamond’?” the General continued.

The pink gem had no chance to answer before Yellow Diamond moved out of the way, without losing eye contact with her, to reveal the sight of their Superior who finally decided to approach.

There was a time when Blue was uncomfortable in her presence. Sometimes even felt… afraid. But this impressions vanished long ago. Once she got to know White better, spent some quality time together and (dared she say) befriend her, there was no reason for such emotions to occur.

She was young, so perhaps that was she reason the felt this way. Maybe it was White Diamond’s appearance and demeanor. Truth be told, she is extremely strong, most powerful person in the universe. Therefore, obviously, she’s dangerous. But not to them. Not to the Diamonds. Of course she does threaten and kill, gems or not, but they do that too. (It’s not a game, they do it because they sometimes have to.) However, she has never attempted similar actions towards Yellow and Blue. The connection the members of the Authority had was supreme. The relationship between them – was good.

That’s why Blue blocked out one of the possibilities of what White might do: kill the fourth diamond. She knew the Superior enough to be sure she’s not going to do that, but not enough to tell why.

White carried the rest of the conversation similarly to the way she spoke to Blue when they first met. She used comparable words, yes, but… she wasn’t as lively as back then. Even her smile was much smaller, her teeth invisible… Still she remained orderly and polite.

They took off to Homeworld and upon finally reaching it: White went her way together with Yellow, while Blue was assigned to introduce their planet’s capital’s structure to the other. It wasn’t easy to adjust her pace so that the ‘Pink’ Diamond (as White called her) could keep up. She had to walk slower than usual, and because of that the task lasted longer than she expected. But it was actually fortunate for the orders of fixing the newest Diamond’s equipment’s size to be completed.

The Pink Diamond did not witness any of those adjustments being made. None of the other rulers made any comments about her size or colour. At first it was something Blue and Yellow simply decided not to do, because they didn’t know if they were supposed to, and even if – they didn’t know how to say it without hurting not only the pink gem, but also themselves. It was, after all… painful for all of them.

First thing White Diamond did, and made sure Yellow and Blue were aware of, was changing the symbol of the great Diamond Authority. She discarded the red colour that was originally designed, and changed it into a one matching the fourth ruler: pink. An unspoken agreement was settled between the three of them, which Blue could read in her Superior’s eyes: Pink Diamond does not need to know about that.

It was clear that her size will eventually be brought to question by herself, but the colour of a specimen is their identity. Their pride. Something that could surely break a spirit inside a gem if it finds out it failed to achieve it upon being born. **They** can live with that. But there’s no reason to burden ‘Pink’ with it. They all feared, because they knew that she will eventually have enough problems already, with all her other flaws.

_She can still be a proper ruler. She can still work with her colour._ Blue thought. It was close **enough**. Her size is also… just size. She doesn’t need to be big like them. They will get her some sort of vehicle to move around and to be able to keep up with them. Or they will just carry her. _That’s not a problem…_ _I think._

Blue believed all of this things could be taken care of. She believed that, despite everything, things will turn out alright.

That…

_Everything’s going to be fine._   
  
  
  
Stars know however… her hopes were not as confident as she wanted them to be, as in the darkest part of her mind, that she became aware of such a long time ago… she was extremely worried.  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1*) dead gem - a gemstone that has no magic or life in it. All the naturally formed gems (for example on Earth: jewelry and stuff), as their creation was not induced by the Diamonds' magic powers, are "dead gems".  
> 2*) 'oh spectrum of nebula!' - basically a gem verion of 'oh good god!' or 'oh sweet mother of god!'. (Not that 'nebula' is a god to the gems. It's just a form of speech. You get the gist.)


	26. Start of teaching. And sauna.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gotta do what you have to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ima re-read it tomorrow. You go and read the previous chapter if you haven't yet.
> 
> Posting at 3:27am.

The steam’s intensity had to be temporarily reduced for a few hours. It doesn’t really lessen the amount of diamond essence collected. Mostly it was just a luxury feature.

Yellow Diamond was sitting inside her extraction chamber, unsurprisingly still working, even though the room was originally designed as a (commonly described) rest stop. She could equip herself there only with magic-powered devices, that were invulnerable to heat and humidity. Decreased vapor allowed her to see everything clearly and keep on being productive.

And stars know she had to be productive now. Non-stop. What the gem kind was met with increased the efficiency of the home planet and colonies, as always when a new Diamond was born. At least that was all every person outside of the Authority thought. Naturally, the gems were perplexed at first, seeing how the youngest leader differs from the rest, but the other three monarchs managed to act properly and play out the whole thing as if nothing was wrong. No one but them knew how it was actually supposed to look like, and what the fourth Diamond should be, so it was just for them to suffer through the thoughts of failure, while (most of) the rest of gem kind celebrated the event sincerely happy.

Of course it’s not like the rest of the Authority found it as nothing but tragedy, or at least that’s what Yellow hoped. She herself made a good connection with the youngest ruler (despite the circumstances). Pink, although ‘different’ than them, was still a **diamond**. And that meant the Authority is complete, as four members are all there is to make it. That the empire is growing and will not cease to develop further. There won’t be any more diamonds, so there’s no work related to creating one anymore. That was good. They all could now go back to focusing on their original purpose and duties.

However, they found out that the youngest leader did not evolve her destiny properly.

They were very quick to notice it, because it was obvious. Pink Diamond, upon being given some (even easy) basic tasks of a leader, had troubles not only managing the screens already opened for her, but doing simplest work.

First formal thing she had to do, just like Blue (because they both emerged in time of already richly developed period), was to assign gems inside her palace. It was a very small exercise, because the list of all those subordinates was already prepared and given to her, along with numbers, ranks and types that they were. They had to do it mostly by their own desire, depending on what they’re planning to do later.

Yellow and Blue were about to leave, attempting to get back to their own duties after introducing the control room and having a small, surprisingly pleasant chat, when Pink informed them that she doesn’t know what to do.

They just told her. A moment ago. How does she ‘not know’? Was it about the computer? Does she not know how to use it?

She said she doesn’t know which gems go where…

_Oh… Oh stars…_ Was her data flawed that much? That she doesn’t recognize the Caste System? That she doesn’t know which gems do what? It’s a **very** basic knowledge.

“Am I supposed to know that initially?” she asked with a very worried expression. It was the first time they saw her like that. Her head lowered, small fists pushed against her chest while looking at them concerned, or even scared. Yellow immediately didn’t like this sight.

_Yes._ Was a truthful response, but none of them found themselves able to say it out loud.

The pink gem seemed to disregard the silence as an answer. “Could… could you teach me?” she asked looking up at them with hope in her eyes, strands of her rose-like hair failing to cover anticipation and worry on her face.

_Yes. Yes, of course we will._ _Naturally. Undoubtedly._ If that’s what she needs – _we will teach you_.

And so they did. There was no debate about this. They started helping the pink gem even further than that, because upon later work it was clear she lacks more knowledge and skill than this.

Right then, to their relief, they found out that Pink **did** understand the Caste System, and could recognize gem types and their role, just like she should, but she was unconfident and nervous while assigning them. She couldn’t quite comprehend their roles, despite knowing everything about them.

_That’s alright._ Yellow thought. They can work on that. They can aid her and help her learn everything. She was confident, even though she never before had to teach anyone this things.

It had a great affect on Blue and Yellow’s schedules, since they had to take turns in assisting the youngest, but they took it in their stride. A long time has already passed since it started. Slowly, very slowly, they were getting used to that. Even so with the vision that it's not going to end soon, so they had no other choice really. An expected turn of things was that all of Pink Diamond’s work had to go through them. They had to supervise her strongly. Once it became a habit it was easier for each of them to let Pink work without their presence and go deal with their own colossal amount of work, usually leaving Blue or Yellow Pearl to her assistance.

_It’s fine…_ Yellow thought while managing multiple screens inside her sauna. Pink was making progress. She is a diamond after all. Despite everything, she’s intelligent and superior, so she can eventually make everything work if she wants to.

The General sighed. _At least she’s willing to learn._

A sudden sound of the door closing startled and made her look at it’s source. To Yellow’s great surprise, she saw Blue Diamond, **inside** her extraction chamber, approaching one of the sits next to her.  
Without a word she settled down on a bench sided on her left.

She was with Pink last time Yellow checked. Maybe they already finished and let Blue go back to her own duties. The General knew that she doesn’t have any business with her, and especially not here. The sauna was a place, if she remembered correctly (and she did), where Blue Diamond ever stepped foot inside only once. Unknown why, despite the doors always open for her, Yellow’s clear signs that she’s not unwelcome there, and established knowledge that she enjoys spending time together, her counterpart refused to join in this way of collecting the diamond essence, even when White was inside too.

Until today apparently.

Blue seated herself comfortably, ignoring the steam rising around her.

Well, she finally gave in. Yellow thought, although she still didn’t understand why it took so long. Blue is clearly exhausted, just like the General. _Maybe she’s just too tired to care anymore._

After a few minutes in silence, the azure Diamond moved and closed the distance between them, taking a seat right next to the other ruler. She laid her hands loosely on her lap, forearms crossed, and sighed while taking in the view of Yellow’s display of terrifying amount of workload in front of them.

“Have you talked with White recently?” she asked with a weary voice.

“Yes.”

“What does she say?”

“She’s glad that Pink is making progress. Tells us to keep up what we’re doing.” Yellow said without taking her eyes off the monitor. It’s true. White knows about everything that’s happening and is aware of the situation. Obvious thing is now that Pink Diamond is below their level. Hence she needs to be supervised, which doesn’t even deserve questioning why.

The diplomat hid her face inside her palms and laid elbows on her lap. She was clearly tired, but still, glamorous as always.

Yellow, without notice, felt strands of the other’s hair starting to cling to her arm. She thought Blue is just coming closer, until she looked to her left.

_What the-_

Her counterpart was still sitting where she was before, unmoved. The body of her hair however, looked… different than usual. Sky blue strands were lifting themselves and coming down repeatedly, forming waves and spirals as if they had their own consciousness. Their owner paid no attention to it, or perhaps she didn’t even notice it as her eyes were still hidden behind her hands.

_Astounding._

Yellow raised her hand and started browsing through the living cloud gently, curious. She tried untangling the threads, but they kept moving as they wanted.

“Enjoying yourself?” a smirk could be heard behind sudden words that made the General drop her arm and turn away sheepishly.

Blue Diamond lifted her head. “They react like that to hot humidity.”

_Ooooooh…_ Yellow welcomed a sudden realization. So that’s why Blue never wanted to come here. It misshapes her form.

Truth be told, she looked funny. The General couldn’t help but smile and let out a short snicker.

“Alright. I’m leaving.” Blue stated upon seeing the expression on the other’s face.

“Wh- no.” Yellow grabbed her wrist before she could walk away. “You can’t go out like that.”

It didn’t look ugly, just… not presentable. Blue can’t show herself to public like that and she knows it. Perhaps she’s just… right - too tired to care.

“I have a back door. There’s no gems in the hallway.” She pulled the other towards the exit. Blue did not resist in the slightest.

Even outside the sauna her hair kept the appearance they formed. The azure Diamond started to brush them with her fingers. It looked like it was working, but at extremely slow rate.

_Maybe a hairbrush would help._

Yellow led her counterpart in one of her nearest chambers. Although they both had a lot of work on their shoulders right now, it seemed like they were glad they could have a shortest moment of break from it.

She took out a dark violet hairbrush from one of her drawers and gave it to the… curly haired ruler.

“Here.”

Blue accepted the object, but not without a confused look on her face. It was **hers** after all.

“Why do you have my hairbrush?” she started using it while watching the General with a crooked smile.

Yellow wasn’t sure if Blue wasn’t aware of how often she leaves or loses them around the palace. Even Yellow’s palace. At first the General herself found one after an audience with the other. Later different gems from her court started bringing more to her, saying they found it somewhere in the building. They didn’t have time to go to Blue Diamond’s part of the city to return it, so they dutifully decided to bring it to their own leader. Eventually Yellow found herself having a good collection of it (which was even so weirder because she doesn’t use them herself). Still, by some miracle, Blue never seemed to be lacking any.

“You left it once in my control room.” It was the closest thing to truth. They were lost and found in many places, some inside said control room too. Yellow didn’t know which one was from where, she didn’t keep any tabs on it.

Blue only smiled “Oh~” before managing to make herself look neat again.

After that hey went their own ways without any further delay. Duty calls.


	27. Small throne

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Not really lessons but surely a quality time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm too tired to think of a better chapter title.  
> Posting at 5:51am. Did I stay up all night to finish this chapter?  
> Yes.  
> Be. Grateful.

“Pink, please, focus.”

Blue said quietly. She’s been sitting with the youngest Diamond in her own chambers, finding that it’s easier if she just comes to her instead of the diplomat constantly running errands to the pink palace. She had more work to do than the other. Much more.

“But you explained it to me already.” The smaller gem pouted looking up at her senior. She was impatiently wriggling in her own station, that was designed and placed on top of Blue’s desk, so that they could work together.

It would be however a mistake to call it ‘work’.

“Then how come you still can’t do it by yourself?” she responded calmly while managing matters on her screens.

Such a simple task. Assigning gems synchronized to the construction work being held on Homeworld. It’s still the same and only planet Pink’s ever stepped foot on (aside from the birth planetary body). Majority of gems here are already experienced, appropriate and skillful. It’s not difficult to tell them what to do, because they mostly already know what their job and expertness is. Not to mention Pink has not been given any amateurs (younglings) to work with alone, so that it would be even so easier for her.

And she still cannot get a grasp of how to be an actual ruler.

“Ugh, because it’s so boring…” she laid on the back of her chair, arms reaching above her head in reach of nothing but air.

“Those are our responsibilities.” It was about a third time this particular topic appeared in their conversation. “They aren’t supposed to be thrilling. They are supposed to be done.”

Blue was tired. Not as much physically, like before, as mentally. It became clear long time ago, that Pink is not fit to lead, nor give out orders beyond small and irrelevant for the empire, to a few her own, theoretically personal subordinates. Because of a couple of mistakes she made that were partially a good proof of that, and an overall incapability as a ruler, the amount of work that needed handling, of this particularly colored court was doubled. And this amount had to be divided and subjected to the rulage of the rest of the Diamonds.

Honestly it wasn’t that bad. The number of these gems was yet little, and since they never expected the newest monarch to have any incredible, high quantity of power inside the Authority, the sum of this work was not greatly expanded. In other words: so far there wasn’t that much work to do for her. **So far.**

They knew the number of gems and general responsibilities will increase with time. Naturally. But they were prepared. Everything was, one could say – perfectly – scheduled and organized. White, Yellow and Blue realized quickly that there’s no point in waiting for Pink to learn everything, especially after seeing the process go downfall even at the beginning of teaching. Which was actually pretty weird, and the same even now: Pink is very eager and excited every time she visits or one of them comes to assist her. She is asking many questions. Trying out many devices. Wanting to see everything she can. But she quickly loses focus. Gets off the subject. Forgets things that have already been said and without paying attention to the main matters tries to do or talk about other things. Things that are irrelevant, and even if they’re not, she can’t seem to understand that there’s an order of everything she needs to learn, and that she can’t jump too far without knowing the basics.

 _‘How do I hold a trial?’_ was a good example. It was also a good question. It would be nice if she knew and was able to carry out a lawsuit by herself. But to do that first she would need to know about: accused and accuser’s cases; their variety of being either individuals, official entities or groups; their types and professions; the nature of seek legal or equitable remedy; what actions to take; in whose favor to issue the judgment; what will this judgment be and many, oh so many more… While she can’t even allocate, not assign a few construction workers on one structure. How is she then supposed to do that in a courtroom, where there would be much more, and different gems? Not to mention holding an actual trial…

“Where’s Yellow?” Pink put her knees on the chair and turned to look at the other with a cherry, and ever so innocent smile.

It became a norm that either of the older Diamonds was now just simply working on their own, while Pink when she was accompanying them was to watch and try to learn, every so often given a task to carry out by herself. Even though she was rarely patient enough to actually do it…

“She’s on one of her colonies now, right?” Pink was a very lively person. “I’d like to go to her. Do you think we can go and visit? OH!” she gasped “Maybe you can take me to one of yours? I want to see what other planets look like!”

It was difficult not to return such a smile. Despite the fact that the youngest’s presence and energetic demeanor would be considered a distraction from their work, it was… quite nice, and easy to talk to her.

“Pink, we’ve shown you many pictures and videos of them already. Besides, first there are things you need to learn before you actually leave Homeworld.”

There was no business nor any official need for Pink to go somewhere else. The other reason was that… it’s the safest place for her to be.

“Yeees, but not like that…” she pouted again while fidgeting on her tiny throne, either to find a comfortable position or simply out of boredom. “It’s not the same. I wan to see it **live** , with my own eyes! I want to go there and I want to touch things.” she made a weir gesture of her hands holding an invisible ball and squishing it.

Blue snorted and giggled cordially _. ‘Touch things.’_ Pink was so silly. _Such an adorable specimen really_ , she thought while looking with a corner of her eye at the other taking on another weird position on her chair. It wasn’t only her size that made such impression, but her form in general too. She had long, dark pink gloves reaching to her elbows (much like Yellow’s), puffy, soft shoulder pads, fine shorts that were belted with an unfinished skirt, and those unusable, but ever so sweet, white pompons on each of her modest shoes.

 _Cute~_ Blue couldn’t help but consider it a good quality. She was sure that Pink was also certainly beautiful, and she only thought of her as cute because she’s so small. This idea was confirmed in her own head, by the vision of herself or her counterpart being the same size. Blue actually once burst out laughing in an (thank the stars) empty control room, when she imagined Yellow being the size of her palm. She was certain the General wouldn’t like to be carried or affectionately touched in this conditions, and would try to fight her with such tiny hands if she ever tried to do that. The vision of a small, furious Yellow Diamond in her hands, although completely out of line and outrageous if someone was to ever find out she even had such thoughts, strongly improved her mood back then.

They were sitting like that, Blue working, but still chatting with the other for a couple of hours.

“Do you not like Yellow?” Pink’s sudden question disturbed the momentary silence.

 _What._ Blue, taken aback, stopped her fingers from swiftly moving across the display. _Why would you think that?_

“What?”

 _Have I ever implied that? Did I spoke about her inappropriately? Did I accidentally insult her in front of you?_ Blue instantly fell into a stream of memories and retrospections about her behaviour. She’s been happily talking to Pink freely for a couple of hundred years, but she was only now afraid that maybe she accidently, once, maybe, possibly, forgot herself and crossed the line…

“It’s just that…” Pink fixed her pose on the chair “You haven’t seen each other for a hundred years now-“ _only 76 actually,_ Blue thought “and you don’t seem like you miss her or anything. So I thought… that maybe you don’t like spending time with Yellow? That you don’t like her?”

 _Stars…_ Blue was amused by how ridiculous this accusation was. They’ve been separated for much, much longer very many times, age is really not of essence to them, since they’re immortal. Besides, they were used to it. They have their own duties and obligations. Spending time together is not bound to their commitment of being galactic leaders of a highest rank.

“Oh, Pink, what an absurd thought.” She stated. “You must understand that we all have _responsibilities_.” It’s a word Pink needs to finally **learn.** “We are Diamonds. Leaders.” She gestured to show the other the sheer number of devices, monitors and manuals around her station. “Being together in one place, even more so – free of business matters – is a rare luxury.” She smiled gently.

Pink sighed at the repeated mention of work and duties. She was bored, so she returned to fidgeting on her throne. Just what was wrong with it – Blue had no idea.

“Believe me,” she continued, drawing the other’s attention back to herself “If I could, I would spend every day by her side.”

Although she said it calmly, with a small smile on her face, her own words surprised her once they left her mouth. Did she say it unconsciously? _Do I… Do I actually mean it? Why did I say that?_

“You would huh?” Pink’s tone was unreadable.

Blue kept looking at a fingerboard in front of her display, questioning herself.

_Every… day?_

BAM!

A sudden, loud crash made her gasp loudly and wake up. She quickly forgot what she was thinking about when she saw Pink Diamond, laying on her back on the floor of her station, her legs up in the air with the bizarre position the fall left her in. The throne pushed away a few meters to the side.

The small gem showed her a wide, embarrassed smile, while looking at her upside down. Pink laughed nervously.

Blue reacted quickly to help the other. “Stars, Pink…” lifting her with only two of her fingers “Don’t hurt yourself.” She made sure the diamond in the middle of her lower torso [belly], was not in any way damaged. It was hardly possible, but… she had to be **positive.**

Whatever the topic of their conversation was before, it was abandoned and blurred by the pink gem bashfully apologizing and chuckling for the rest of their meeting.


	28. Gold mom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pink's first POV

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's a little late. Had a mental breakdown.  
> Don't spare the feedback, people, I need encouragement.  
> Posting at about 3:40am. I'm so tired I'm not even sure what I wrote.

“So… the overall complexion of the mass would be very light. And…” Pink rummaged through the pages in front of her “…And that would make the volume of carbon monoxide equal to four hundred… twenty seven point nine cubic meters?” her voice went higher the further she prolonged the sentence, but she still looked up at the other Diamond with hope in her eyes.

Yellow unceremoniously lowered her head to look at the pink gem and check her calculations on the display. This small, singular movement was enough for her to be able to see everything clearly and up close, because the youngest Diamond was sitting on her lap.

How did she get there?

They were sitting in one of the older ruler’s control rooms, doing pretty much nothing out of the ordinary: Yellow was working on her own, while Pink was given a few tasks from which she was supposed to learn from. This time the task was a chemical calculation, unrelated to anything present, but important for her to be able to carry out alone in the field, shall she ever be given such opportunity (which wasn’t going to happen soon). At first she was located at her own station, similarly to Blue Diamond’s place – on top of one side of the bigger monarch’s desk. She started however coming over to Yellow, for advice, a question, or to present her final count. Even though none of her seniors ever had any problem being the one who approaches her: leaning over, coming closer, scooting over to aid her any time she called - for an unspecified reason Pink decided she has an irresistible need to be the one who walks on the desk and faces the other.

After a few failed attempts to give a correct answer she felt fed up with changing places like that, so she just stayed on the armrest of the yellow throne, trying to finally come up with a right way to solve it. She was so close after all. Knowing however that Yellow has been on calls from time to time, and actually seeing another screen appear in front of her to open a video chat, she quickly lowered her position to avoid being seen, as that would disturb whatever gem the General was talking to. Then again, standing on her thigh might’ve been… a disrespectful action, so with quick thinking Pink lowered herself even more… to sitting on it with her legs spread on sides.

Yellow Diamond said nothing about it through, nor when she finished the conversation with one of her jasper leaders. She saw Pink’s work and knew that she’s close to solving the problem. There was no need to push her away, especially since the pink gem was exceptionally well behaved that day. Much to Yellow’s satisfaction she was making progress. Not exactly with her performance, but with her attitude - definitely.

What Pink didn’t know was that her senior was also kind of glad that… she clearly felt content in her presence. Although sitting on her lap was rather… undignified, as long as Pink wasn’t causing problems, it didn’t bother Yellow at all.

“That’s correct.” She said calmly and couldn’t help but smile while seeing how the other grinned so happily that stars appeared in her eyes.

Pink was proud of herself. A short-lived moment of excitement that was very usual for her in all kinds of emotions. She was energetic, but made a habit of quickly losing whatever euphoria of feelings she had, coming back to (although bored) a proper image of a ruler for a while.

Yellow Diamond with a quick motion send her something to screen. Another task. _Ugh…_ Pink pouted. All this work was sooo tedious. 

Still, she dutifully took a look at it. It was very similar to the previous one. Although it took her some time, she felt happy upon completing it. She can do this one too, following the example of the first one. This time – without mistakes.

_Alright maybe… with **less** mistakes._

Pink pulled her writing pad closer, ready to start, but stopped herself. A sudden realization of where she is came into her mind. Yep. She was still sitting on Yellow’s lap.

Pink wasn’t sure what to do with this fact. She didn’t want to look back at the other’s face, because that would imply her question, and most likely the answer would be that she has to go back to her seat. Pink wanted to… put it to the test. How long will it take Yellow to push her away? Will she do it at all? Will she scold her?

She carefully started doing her work in quiet.

It's been already a few significant minutes, already half of the task done now that she had an example to follow. Yellow said nothing, just sat in place, working on her own.

At this point Pink forgot about her little experiment, now being sure that the other Diamond doesn’t mind her presence there. Why? She had no idea, but she was glad. It was actually pretty impressive how patient Yellow was with her. The small gem was aware of that.

The General always took her time explaining everything to her. Always thoroughly answering all her questions, even if they were insignificant and unrelated to her work.

Yellow kept the impression she made when they first met. Composed and professional. Yet at the same time… Pink already had a few occasions to witness her senior talk or deal with other gems, with her subordinates. It was… different than when she was referring to one of the Diamonds, and with that – to her. Never once was Pink scolded by the other to the point of being afraid. Despite her advantage of size and strength, she clearly didn’t want Pink to dislike the time they need to spend together. Yellow wanted her not only to know things, but also to understand them. Perhaps that was why she was so tolerant.

Pink was aware of the fact that she’s smaller than the rest of the Diamonds. Or more specifically – that something was off about it. She once inquired about it in the presence of all three of them.

“Why… am I smaller than you?” she asked quietly.

White Diamond was standing with her back turned to her, and the question didn’t change that position.

“We don’t know.” Yellow said with a shrug, like it was nothing. “Does it bother you?” she tilted her head, her expression calm.

“I don’t know…” Pink rubbed the back of her neck “Maybe… if I wasn’t supposed to be like that?”

“Oh, well… we don’t mind.” Blue Diamond responded.

“No.” Yellow agreed.

Both went back to doing whatever they were before on their screens, Blue checking something, Yellow showing something to White. As if their answers were… obvious. That’s how they made it seem. It… wasn’t a problem for them. And so Pink felt better.

Pink was actually happy that… even though she was different than them, and that compared to them she knew and was able to do so little… it wasn’t an issue. Not a serious one at least. Pink didn’t know why she was so much less advanced, and perhaps the rest of the Diamonds didn’t either. But they didn’t treat her like an outcast. They were helping her. Guiding her. She saw the difference in how they treat other gems, each other, and her. They were kind to her, nice to her, they let her feel free around them, just like they were in only other Diamonds’ presence. They smiled to her, even Yellow sometimes! Blue Diamond even laughed with her several times. They weren’t doing that with any other gem. That, and many more examples was what made Pink feel that she’s really one of them.  
  
  
A sudden melodious sound drew her attention away from her work. At the corner of the room, a huge machine connected to the walls and floor with multiple transparent pipes started working and brought something on the table in front of it.

Pink jumped down, omitting the task she was about to finish. She knew what it was. Partly at least. The device was bringing unmoving, organic life forms on its board, mainly multicellular organism capable of gaining energy from sunlight through the process called photosynthesis. _Plants._ She thought.

She’s seen them before. They were rather… dull and ugly in most cases. The exception was when they had flowers, but these ones didn’t. They were being checked somehow, to find out about the planet’s ground’s resources, in which they grew in.

Pink approached the machine. She didn’t even have to climb on the table because it was fairly close to the ground. So close that she could touch the plants. Which she did.  
It wasn’t the first time she had contact with them, but it was the first time when she wanted to try something… She saw many videos of other carbon based lifeforms, so called _animals_. What they were doing with those ‘plants’ then? She tried to remember.

“…They should be ready in two hours.” Yellow Diamond was speaking to her Pearl. At the same time she started searching for Pink with her eyes. She disappeared from her lap, but the General couldn’t see her near her station either. “Send the approval to the leader of the first grou- PINK WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?” she shouted, for the first time raising her voice so much, and threw herself her junior’s way, jumping from the platform and closing the distance in a blink of an eye.

Pink shrieked with a sudden commotion and her whole body tensed. Her hands holding one of the green parts of the plant, while a part of it was inside her mouth. Dumbfounded, she didn’t know what to do with it after taking a bite.

“SPIT IT OUT!” Yellow put her hand below the other’s chin, seeing very well the bulge of her cheek. The General was freaked out and visibly angry, which was even more powerfully expressed by her frown and gritted teeth.

Pink obediently opened her mouth and let the piece fall out on the other’s opened palm.

It wasn’t even chewed up, luckily Pink didn’t know enough to try that. Yellow, disgusted, threw the thing away. Most likely gathering herself and about to ask what in stars name she just did.

“I saw animals on your colony do it.” She said wiping her cheeks with a fist. She, herself, was repulsed by its taste.

“AND THAT- “ Yellow grabbed the place between her eyes and held like that forcefully for a moment, trying to calm down. “-made you feel you should do it too?” She was furious. “Pink, gems don’t eat.”

Pink knew that. They don’t need any nutrients and substances to live after already being born.

“Well I regret doing that.” She stated with a grimace “It tastes horribly.”

Yellow slowly, without touching Pink’s hands, smacked the rest of the plant away from her.

“No wonder.” She hissed “It’s a root. Even animals don’t eat that.”

She picked Pink up with the other hand, in order to get back to their station.

“Can’t we eat even though we don’t need to?”

Yellow looked at her outraged. As if the fact that they don’t need to eat wasn’t enough.

“Do you even know what the process looks like?” she asked irritated. She actually wasn’t expecting Pink to know, but her unaware expression annoyed her still.

“Of course you don’t.”

She put Pink down to stand near the monitors and called her Pearl for assistance. The next few, terrifying minutes of Pink’s life were filled with an explanation of what ‘eating’ exactly is, and what it consists of. Yellow Pearl, although disgusted herself while talking, did not spare any details of it, making sure to describe the process thoroughly, from the beginning, to the very end.

Pink needed to hold herself up leaning on her own, small desk. On of her hands covering her mouth, the other – grasping her gem. Her face was covered by an unspecified shadow. She looked terrified and sick.

“Oh nooooo…” she managed to mutter.

Yellow was clenching her armrest, evidently still angry.

“Yellow, what if I swallowed something?” she asked quietly with fear and even slowly appearing tears in her eyes.

The General looked at her with a frown. “You didn’t.” the daggers from her stare were saying _‘Oh you better didn’t.’_ “But… go to Blue. She will give you a toothbrush or something.” And she turned away.

Pink threw herself towards the warp pad.

She completely forgot about the task she was doing, but oh soon she will find it sent to her, and many, many more similar ones inside her own chambers, that just like the first one – she will have to complete.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We, humans, need to eat, and we are tought to do it from the moment we are born. We grow eating and we're accustomed to it.  
> Gems however never need to eat. Moreover upon being born they are already highly inteligent. The idea of chewing something, as in, biting something with your teeth once it's inside your mouth, creating an ugly pulp and sucking juices out of it before swallowing the thing, not to mention the rest of the process and it... "leaving your body", can be, and in fact is, disgusting.


	29. Discovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Diamonds are planning to give Pink a pearl. + Something new about the youngest Diamond.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As usual posting very late or rather... early - 5:10am

“Perhaps giving her a pearl would help?” said Blue softly.

The three senior Diamonds had a meeting inside one of White’s chambers inside her spaceship. An unofficial, unscheduled, quick get-together that fortunately happened. They were all on their own, different ways, but for a moment being close to each other, decided to talk for a while. As long as their duties waiting, allowed them to.

Initially it was about the newest colonies Yellow and White were working on at the moment, but the subject smoothly (and unsurprisingly) fell onto Pink.

They all adored their youngest, but her lack of professionalism eventually started to take its toll. Pink behaved very… freely around the other Diamonds. That was not a problem in itself. While in public or at least around other gems, with them present she had a constant reminder how to properly behave, usually – she was quiet. Shall they hold gatherings, have audiences or receive quick reports from other gems with Pink in the room – it was alright. She knew her place, which was not knowing what to do, so she doesn’t interrupt, just diligently listens and perhaps learns something from it. They didn’t teach her that, it was something she figured out and took on, on her own. It was also clear that she didn’t like it very much. She preferred when there were only Diamonds in the room [with exception of their pearls, who Pink was already familiar with].

They couldn’t quite get their heads around it. They thought that maybe she’s… shy? It was a **very** unlikely statement, considering her lively demeanor and the general fact that she was born a leader. That is until they found out how she acts towards other gems when they’re not around. Or rather – how some **other gem** s act around **her**. Not all of them, no, but only a few similar incidents managed to cause Pink behave this way.

Troops getting very startled when she approached them out of nowhere. Slowly backing away even though they could see she’s coming straight at them. Once she’s close, freezing in place, bowing low, avoiding eye contact. When she addresses the leader of the group (for whatever reason, she didn’t have to do it), they answer respectfully, following common etiquette – that was normal, fine. But Pink did not speak formalities, no. Once she suddenly came up in front of one of the Agates and grabbed her hand. Supposedly to greet her, Pink was smiling after all (statement from the point of Blue Pearl’s view, who was accompanying her at that time). Needless to say the rest of the party jumped back, alarmed. Said Agate, although clearly shocked herself, smiled back and tried her hardest to act and respond properly. Poor gem was left shaking on her legs after Pink walked away, her amethysts holding her up, consoling.

Pink didn’t even realize that she could make gems feel uncomfortable acting this way, until the other Diamonds mentioned it while trying to explain to her the importance of etiquette. Or were they afraid of her? No… That’s highly unlikely. She’s not in any way intimidating. Of course, she is a diamond, and although she is only barely the height of two pearls, she still has the advantage of her head being above the regular, tallest types of gems. In most cases. Naturally, many gems are afraid and feel nervous around the Diamonds, but not to such extent. Their stress levels reached higher in Pink Diamond’s presence. Or at least it was… more visible. Why? The Diamond’s didn’t know. Any attempt to find out by asking the gems they managed to identify who participated in such situation, (not themselves, because that would be undignified and quite frankly… weird), was shut down because they all denied everything.

Their inborn politeness and propriety sometimes was really a bother…

Completely different thing was that the bigger the gem type, the more distressed they seemed. That has never happened before. Their sizes hardly ever had any importance, apart from their rank. And yet – there were a couple of times when a head of the squad that was a tall gem (a jasper, topaz, or hessonite) stepped back from the youngest Diamond, and had one of her subordinates carry the meet with the ruler. That was something no one in the Authority could understand.

Still, the thing that was clear was that Pink made some gems feel uncomfortable. And the only reason that made sense was her energetic, unprofessional behaviour.

That’s why Pink was observing the other Diamond’s interactions with their subordinates so carefully now. She really wanted to learn, to find out what she’s doing wrong and start acting properly, so that the gems won’t be reacting to her presence like this.

It wasn’t easy for her to compare though. Her seniors had responsibilities, and that’s what they were talking about. All these meetings and conversations were formal. And she didn’t have such opportunities… Pink is yet to create her own gems, which isn’t going to happen soon. Even though her court isn’t empty, as other Diamonds assigned (gave) dozens of their gems under her lead, her management of them is colossally smaller.

And that’s why Blue spoke up about her idea.

“Well, if she had a subordinate who officially belongs to her… and accompanies her all the time…” Yellow started, considering this suggestion thoroughly, taking all aspects into account, as usual for her, “Maybe it would be easier for her to adapt to acting accordingly.” She agreed.

“Yes!” Blue continued “And if that pearl was well cut and trained, maybe she could carry out the assignments and work with her alone? For certain amount of time at least?” Naturally, even when the Diamonds were able to let Pink be, usually they still had to leave one of their Pearls to her assistance, which, although helping, was still an inconvenience.

White put a hand to her face like she was thinking for a moment.

“That **is** an idea.” She stated. And then sighed. “I’ll make her one that’s… appropriate. It will take some time though, so in the meanwhile don’t change your schedules just yet.”

I

I

I

Creating a gem, no matter what type, is not something that can be done quickly. Especially when this gem needs to me exceptionally proper. It will take even more time to polish her coded knowledge after she emerges. _Oh well._ Blue thought.

These days they were all already used to working with Pink.

“I’ll check it. I have the folder.” Pink said enthusiastically while getting ready to jump down from the shelf near Blue Diamond’s station.

The azure ruler simply nodded and turned away to face her screens. The back of her head was prepared to listen to the common ‘stomp’ that accompanied the other when she reached the ground after jumping down from an elevation. Blue, at first, didn’t even notice that this time, she heard nothing.

“Whoah!” that’s what she heard instead.

She turned to look at Pink, that was standing on the platform below, her arms spread, mouth open and a strangely joyous smile lit on her face.

“Did you see that!?” she asked with a high-pitched voice.

Blue looked at her surprised “See what?”

“Hold on.” Pink said and bend her knees low, eyeing the shelf above that she was standing on just a moment ago. It was low enough for her to be able to get off of it without hurting herself, but also high enough for her not to be able to jump on it.

But she jumped.

To Blue’s surprise, she managed to reach the top, and only helping herself with her arms, successfully stood on top.

“See?” Pink asked again, still smiling. _See what?_ “Look!” she jumped down once again.

Lo and behold: she started falling down, but… extremely slowly. This was not a rate that her weight would allow. It was like gravity suddenly weakened working on her. Was it… Was it magic? It has to be. It’s scientifically illogical after all. Blue opened her mouth in shock. _Can Pink… fly?_ She smiled unconsciously.

The younger Diamond landed on the ground gently, and she looked up at the other with stars in her eyes.

“Wow, Pink you can-“

“Wait! Wait!” she ran towards the diplomat. Stopped at her feet and repeated the movement she did before, preparing herself to hop. And she did.

And she reached the height above Blue’s knees quite quickly, then met the culmination, and started falling down leisurely, almost with no effort, and landed on one of Blue’s tights.

“Pink, you can float!” Blue said happily, a happy grin lighting up her face. “That’s one of your powers!”

Pink’s expression was no different. “It’s amazing!”

“I know!” Blue bent low to be closer to the other and gently, but hurriedly scooped her off her feet. They both came for a hug that consisted of Pink being able to embrace only half of the older Diamond’s face.

The sky blue strands of hair tickled Pink’s shoulders, rose-like mane stroked Blue’s eyelashes.

They joined each other in a sweet, cheerful laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I will write a chapter about why gems feel/act this way around Pink ;)
> 
> This chapter was a little shorter, but that's cause the next one's gonna have A BLAST


	30. Just ONE report

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This... took a VERY wrong turn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm late but still, please
> 
> LEMMIE  
> KNOW  
> WHAT YOU  
> THINK ;)

“The dropships are embarking at this moment, my Diamond. The Emerald fleet leader and aiding nephrites confirmed the coordinates of the destination.” High-pitched voice of Yellow Pearl informed her owner, which also reached Blue and Pink Diamond, who were in the room too.

“Thank you, Pearl.”

The three of them were now standing in the control room of one of Yellow Diamond’s colonies. Pink has spent some time there, being educated at every step and getting help from her senior. She was delighted to be there, and although they didn’t have much time to go outside and explore the surface, she was still happy to absorb the sight.

The time came when it was Blue Diamond’s turn to look after the youngest, so she came to pick her up. But, despite the fact that the amount of work was not to their advantage, they were taking their time before having to be separated again.

“New invasion?” Blue inquired the ruler standing next to her.

“Yes. The one we talked about with White, remember?”

“Ah, yes. Has she already set off to hers?”

“No, not yet. She’s postponing it after I commence mine, I believe.”

A soft hum was the azure monarch’s response.

“Will I be able to go there?” Pink asked. She was sitting in the loop of Blue Diamond’s hair. It was… quite ridiculous to be honest. But they were not in public, so nothing undignified about that. Plus this way Pink was able to see the display in front of the bigger gems clearly and it was easier for her. _Oh well._ As long as Pink doesn’t fall and Blue doesn’t mind it - it’s fine.

 _Must be the softest place in the universe she chose to sit in._ Yellow thought, amused.

“Probably.” She said.

“Maybe let Yellow colonize it first.” Blue added with a smile aimed at the pink gem located on her chest.

One of the screens on the General’s display reminded her of what time it is. “I guess we should be going.” She stated quietly with a sigh.

Pink understood the order of things. She was now to go to work with Blue, so she stood up, and jumped off the hair loop.

A sudden movement of Yellow Diamond startled everyone in the room, when she rapidly closed the distance between the other two Diamonds and caught Pink in air in a blink of an eye.

Blue gasped, and Pink shrieked in surprise. She barely fell past the height of where the azure ruler’s hair loop ended when she was stopped. “Nice reflex!” she voiced her admiration.

“What are you doing!? Trying to break yourself!?” the rage in Yellow’s loud voice made her smile disappear for a moment.

“Wha- No! I-“

“Oh no no no. Yellow, it’s okay~” Blue Diamond interfered, wanting to calm her counterpart down. She grabbed the hand in which Pink was now standing. “Pink can float!” she said happily.

“Float? What?” Yellow hissed, still clearly angry.

“Yes! Look!” Pink bend her legs and tried to jump off the glowed palm, but the General’s second hand gently grabbed her by the short shirt, holding her back. “Heyyy!”

“Yes, float!” Blue looked slightly amused by the misunderstanding “We found out when she was last with me. She can fall from big heights and not hurt herself. Look!” she slowly took the hand stopping the pink gem away.

_You found out. When._

The youngest Diamond skipped in the air and to Yellow’s surprise started slowly falling down. That didn’t stop her though from keeping her hands close, getting on one knee and accompanying Pink until she safely reached the ground. _She really floats._

Pink turned to look at her, with a huge smile on her face, clearly proud of herself.

Yellow indeed smiled back, showing a line of snow-white teeth. “That’s- that’s great!”

“Right?” the small Diamond hopped up towards her senior. Blue giggled.

Yellow watched as Pink slowly landed on the ground again. “It’s… It’s perfect.” She was still smiling but it was difficult to conceal the short, fake laughter that left her mouth. She straightened her position, stood up and breathed sharply, trying to keep her anger in place.

_I read all of them. All the time. Every report and every message. And in not one of them you included this information._

“Pink, why don’t you- Why don’t you go ahead to Blue’s ship. She’ll meet you there. We just have one small matter to discuss.” She tried to sound light, but wasn’t sure how well it turned out.

Pink agreed lively and gracefully (as much as her energy allowed) started walking towards the exit.

Once she turned away Yellow Diamond dropped the smile, and changed it into a murderous scowl. She directed it at their assistants standing nearby. Soundlessly she mouthed an one-word order: **_Leave._**

Her Pearl immediately understood the message. She grabbed Blue Pearl, who, although also aware of what’s going on, didn’t seem confident enough to move alone. Yellow assistant pulled her away from their station and together they ran to the door designed specifically for them, leading outside.

Pink left. The gate behind Pearls quietly closed. There was now only two of them in the room.

Blue turned to face the General after watching Pink leave. Her relaxed smile disappeared the moment she saw the expression on her counterpart’s face.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this!?” Yellow said sharply. Blue looking shocked enraged her even more “Why didn’t you tell WHITE about this!?” She knew for a fact that the other did not inform their superior either.

“Wh- I-“

“One message! You could’ve sent just ONE SHORT MESSAGE to any of us!” It’s been quite a long time since Blue was last with Pink, when she found out about this. That was the problem. “You sent DOZENS OF REPORTS and you couldn’t include this IN AT LEAST ONE OF THEM!?”

“Well I- I- might’ve forgotten-“

“You forgot!” Yellow interrupted her. Blue was stuttering, shocked and disturbed by the sudden change of air “Top priority issue AND YOU FORGOT ABOUT IT!?”

“I didn’t- I didn’t think it was **so** important to-“ Blue furrowed her eyebrows and came into defense.

“Not important!? Literally the biggest thing we’re dealing with right now and you think it’s not important!” that sheer absurd made Yellow cover her face with her hands to message her temples.

Pink Diamond is not fit to be a proper leader. They do what they can to make this right. A gem’s powers awake on their own. If there is no other person of the same type and colour, they usually need to figure it out themselves. It’s easier for gems who emerge in groups and who already aren’t the only ones to exist. They see what they can do and learn from others, so it’s easier for them. The Diamonds are different. They’re the only case of gems when, despite being the same type, different colours make most of their powers completely unalike (not to mention their appearance and role). There’s only one of each colour, and although White Diamond is able to tell their original and official purpose of their main power, it’s mostly up to them to start and familiarize with using the rest of it.

The fact that Pink can float is simply amazing. It means her magic is not as flawed as to not exist. It’s now going to be much easier for her to move, she can be faster and they don’t need to worry about her falling from their shoulders. Hell, with right stimulation she probably could even fly!

It means she has more to offer than just what she’d been doing up till now. It’s a development of the weight of the whole pink court and even the empire!

_How can you not see this, Blue?_

“That’s not what I meant!” Blue now raised her voice too “I was busy! I had other things to-“

“There are no things that could’ve stopped you from letting us know that!” Yellow looked at her gravely “It’s enough that SHE is **incompetent**!” she gestured towards the door behind which Pink disappeared “You can’t be too!”

At that Blue Diamond restored her authoritative demeanor. A sharp look of anger glowing on her face.

“INCOMPETENT!?” she yelled “One thing and you’re going to insult me for it!?”

“Insult **you**?” Yellow growled “Imagine how insulted WHITE is going to feel. When she finds out she’s the last one to know about this. Imagine how she’s going to feel when she hears that you’ve been sitting on this information for so long, without bothering to let us know!”

“Why are you making such a big deal out of this!? YOU already know! Do you really have to informed about everything that’s going on in the universe!? Does it make you feel so powerful!? You’re literally the second person to know so what’s the problem!?”

“ME!?” Yellow approached her aggressively and gave her the most fierce look Blue has ever seen “ **I am nothing**!”

That resulted with a strange twitch of Blue’s lips that she couldn’t specify the meaning of.

“It’s about White! This is the first good thing that happened in centuries! Finally some good news which stars know we all need so much! And you decide to keep her away from it!?”

White Diamond… hasn’t been very content lately. Not ever since Pink emerged actually. Or maybe even before that..? She lost her usual, cheerful vigor and stars… in was painful to look at. Yellow couldn’t believe that Blue didn’t see it. She’s supposed to be the empathetic one.

“I’m not keeping anyone away from it! I just didn’t realize this was a formal issue! If any of you called me during that time I certainly would’ve told you PERSONALLY!”

“Oh right!” Yellow turned away and got back to her computer to manage something on it “Now I’m supposed to call you every day just to remind you of what your job is!” she forcefully closed a ledge below her desk “Seriously, Blue. I can’t babysit **both** of you.”

A piercing slash went through the diplomat’s eyes as she greeted her teeth.

“Babysit? How dare you!?” she approached the other “Just when IN OUR ENTIRE LIVES have you supervised me!? Ever!?”

“I haven’t.” Yellow hissed “But clearly I **should’ve** since apparently following the protocol is too overwhelming for you!”

_She said she was busy. As if that’s a good excuse._

They’re all busy. All the time. Their life is work and nothing else.

“How can it **not** be overwhelming!?” Blue yelled “It’s something I have been doing all my life and I never had a break! And it’s not easy for you either!”

“It’s not supposed to be easy!”

“THEN WHAT IS IT SUPPOSED TO BE!?” surprisingly Blue was not crying during the argument. Evidently anger was stronger than sadness. “Just what is the point in that case!? If there is nothing at the end of that path!?”

“Nothing at the end!? A grown, perfect empire is at the end! And we’re nowhere close to reaching it at this point!”

“But why does this require us working till the last ray of light*?! Why do we have to work without stopping until we break!?”

“You can’t break from that! It’s a myth!”

“I never wanted to be put in this position!”

“Me neither!” Yellow dropped her screen and turned to fully face the other with anger shining in her eyes “But it seems I’m the only one who knows that it **doesn’t matter how we feel**.”

Blue Diamond closed her mouth, and with wrath sparkling in her wide eyes she turned and started walking towards the exit.

“I’m done here. This is just ridiculous.”

“Of course you are. And I suppose **I’m** the one who has to send this report to White, since you’re clearly **too busy** to do it?” Yellow stated sarcastically.

It earned her one last look from the other, filled with fury and dismay, before she disappeared behind the door.

Yellow was certain that if Blue could, she would slam them, but fortunately, they were automatic.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, did someone order a marital quarrel? 
> 
> 1*) working till the last ray of light - gem version of 'working till the last breath'


	31. Interesting

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> White hears.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I didn't post last week. Something came up and I didn't have time to write.  
> But all is good now. Here's your chapter ;)

A sound of thin rain barely deafened noises made by construction workers. Hit by hit, swoosh by swoosh, few hundred gems were striking their axes, beating their hammers, lifting and carrying heavy blocks of stone that were soon to play a role of support for a building that was slowly, but steadily rising.

A couple of minutes ago, a crane fell down in a pit, because the ground beneath it gave in to the weight. Now a triple fusion of topaz was maneuvering the machine, carrying it on her shoulders in order to safely put it back in place. Amethysts cleared the way for her. Two of more advanced peridots, pioneers of highly developed powers of controlling metallic objects - although it wasn’t part of their duties - decided to help make sure the crane’s neck won’t break or move, which would not only be inefficient, but could hurt someone in the outcome. Using their magic, they were holding it steady while Triple Topaz moved the machine.

Black Red Pyrope, who was supervising the erection of the building, which consisted of managing the rest of the workers, saw no harm in this little accident. It was nobody’s fault really, and even if it was – she didn’t care. She let the gems act on their own, knowing that it’s in **their** best interest, to fix and do everything as fast as their forms allowed. Besides… they were ahead of schedule anyway.

Usually during such simple, monotonous work, gems often tend to sing. Or if they’re not tired enough – talk loudly, gossip, occasionally even play word games. There was no harm in that, and it didn’t decrease the productiveness. On the contrary actually – having a rhythm to follow, or simply being in a better mood because of being able to talk with each other freely – resulted in tasks being completed faster, while still maintaining the appropriate quality of a job done.

Whether or not they do that however, strictly depends on who is supervising them. Some gems that get put in charge of others, are often prone to overuse this slight dose of authority. Things that affect them personally, can become things that affect everyone. They can order them, and forbid them anything. But there are also other reasons for that: a supervising gem might think that a certain behaviour is inappropriate, and that if **her** supervisor (or worse – her Diamond) finds out about this – she’s the one who will be in trouble.

Depends on a gem really. Or – a situation.

There were gossips among lower class gems – such as construction workers, what does the great Authority think about it. The subject mostly evolved because of a couple of stories that were spread through courts. Some say Yellow Diamond never seemed to care what the gems do with their voices while working, as long as the work was actually being done (and of course they weren’t cursing or speaking profanities, but that’s a universal thing). Legends tell that she actually, lowkey, prefers when the workers appear to have fun (again – as long as the work is being **done** ). One story said that once she even scolded a chief Emerald, for yelling at her subordinates for such actions. Perhaps she was already angry, perhaps she actually wanted that, or maybe she was just really annoyed with this particular gem, who was known to be quite insolent and arrogant. Either way it irritated her to the point where she couldn’t help herself but interject: “Let them sing if they want.” She hissed before leaving the scene, having more important places to be. How embarrassed that Emerald felt – became a commonly spread joke.

Blue Diamond was told to be more irritable at first. She used to get actually shocked upon seeing such behaviour. Eventually however, it turned out her generosity highly depended on her mood. Sometimes she can’t stand it and tells them to be quiet. Sometimes she doesn’t care. But there’s a story told, that once she became fond of one song that the gems dared to sing in her presence. “No, go back to the first one.” She said when workers decided to switch to a different melody. “Sing ‘Skies don’t drown’ again.” It sounded like an order. And it was. But who were they to refuse? Even more gems joined in and they sang louder than before, because receiving such a ‘request’ (order) was a rarity.

Whether or not these stories are true – no one knows. Perhaps it’s only gossip for the sole purpose of chatting, but then again – every rumor has a reason to be born. Either way, gems always have something to talk about. And they enjoy it, even if these things aren’t real.

What is real though – is here and now. Black Red Pyrope was a good manager. She was a good person. She would always let her subordinates sing, play, conversate with each other. They all got along well.

But now they were working in silence. Not one comment, not one laugh, only a few stern orders or instructions thrown here and there. A fully proper workplace environment.

Why?

Because the building near the site was a control base. And a few hundred meters above them was a grand window made of hexagon plates, behind which – White Diamond, the highest standing gem existing, the most powerful, supreme person in the universe – was executing duties of her own. The gems did not know how she would feel about their shanties, and they didn’t want to check. They didn’t dare to try. It’s alright. It’s actually not often when a Diamond is staying so close to a construction site. It’s important for gems to know when to act most properly – and these did. Whatever their Superior was doing, no one was brave enough to risk distracting her.

I

I

I

“…number two hundred thirty one and one hundred forty three. Inform them about the recent changes and tell them to evaluate the presumable delay. Their teams are to be-“

A sudden beep and flicking light coming out of a diamond communicator interrupted White while she was giving orders to one of her pearls. Its colour indicated that it was Yellow who was calling her.

She took a moment to think.

“Go.” She turned to the assistant “Record their conduct and come back once you’re done.”

Anyone could recognize an authoritative tone, which was even strengthened by the size of her person. The Pearl quicky disappeared out of sight, surely determined to execute the orders as well as she could.

White opened the screen and didn’t even notice how easy she suddenly felt upon seeing so familiar face.

“Hi, White…” Yellow smiled hesitantly.

“Hello, Yellow.” She sighed. “What’s the status of your invasion?”

An unexpected thought came to her mind. She hasn’t seen Yellow and Blue in person for a while. It’s been a long time since they were together in one place. _But I guess the fault is mine…_ She quickly realized, because **she** is the one who created _Pink_.

White remembered the so many times when they were freely talking – she couldn’t even remember what about. She remembered when they were smiling – she couldn’t remember why. She remembered when they were laughing – she couldn’t remember what at.

She knew however that she misses those moments. She enjoyed them. Although… she would never admit to it.

“The dropships already embarked. I’m currently heading to join them.” A work talk always seemed to calm Yellow down.

“Good.” White was about to speak more, but she reminded herself that **Yellow** is the one who called **her**. Not knowing how to engage a conversation she just looked at the other, waiting.

The General cleared her throat.

“…but more of that is in the official report… I’m calling, because I want to inform you about something that – I suppose – you’d like to hear about personally.”

“What is it?” she instantly felt somewhat… tired, knowing that this is going to be a duty-related conversation, and that most likely it revolves around Pink. There weren’t many times recently, when they were able to talk about something else. _What did she do?_ Or rather, considering the youngest Diamond’s flaws: _What did she **not** do? _

But Yellow wouldn’t call just to tell her about something insignificant. It must be something important. White thought that maybe Pink hurt herself or something like that. Maybe she hurt someone else? But no. Yellow would look more anxious if that were the case.

“Blue and I just made a discovery. Pink’s magic powers have awoken. Evidently she can… float?” Yellow didn’t know what other word she could use.

The Superior opened her eyes a little wider.

“Oh that’s- “ she smiled lightly “That’s good.” But furrowed her eyebrows questioningly “Float?”

“Yes. She can make the gravity work weaker on her body, than her physicality would allow. She can jump higher and she can fall from taller elevations without… well – hurting herself.”

 _Oh, about time._ Her magic unleashed. Finally there can be something more she can do. From now on the rest of her powers should made themselves known smoothly.

“Good.” She smiled again. “When did you find out?”

“Ah…” Yellow’s face showed an expression she couldn’t recognize. “Just… a moment ago. Right before Blue took her under her care.”

“Mhm... Alright then, thank you. Let me know when you reach the colony’s atmosphere.”

And with that they both smoothly ended the call.

So Pink can _float_. That’s interesting.

What’s more interesting however is that she heard rumors about it before she was officially informed. White has eyes all over the planets. Her gems let her know about everything they see or hear. She didn’t want to believe it though, not before she hears it from someone she actually trusts.

The time they told her about it was when Pink was staying with Blue. She disregarded it, thinking that if the azure Diamond knew, she’d surely have already spoken up about it. (Because why would Pink be hiding this from the Diplomat?)

And yet it turns out to be true.

And she doesn’t hear it from Blue. No. She hears it from Yellow.

As if one of them didn’t know beforehand.

That. Is interesting. 

  
  
Fortunately for the reason behind it however, White was too busy to ponder about this matter further.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The gem workers usually sing songs similar to shanties, or what we call 'dwarf songs'.


	32. Pearls 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's more of them :3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I update so late. My internet went out :/  
> Feedback appreciated.

“…and I told that Jasper: ‘This is not a request.” Yellow Pearl straightened her pose and came into an authoritative tone of voice. ”Yellow Diamond’s orders are indisputable. But if you’d like to question them I will give her the communicator right now.’ ” She smiled while acting out the scene she took part in “And I actually moved like I was doing it but then she growled at me: ‘No! …No, that won’t be necessary.’ And she hung up.”

Blue Pearl at this point started giggling, which boosted the other’s already big ego even more.

“She was so angry!” both gems began laughing at the comedy of this exchange.

Pearls, even the ones who belong to the Diamonds, rarely are allowed to give out orders. But. They often have opportunities during which they can ‘pass on’ their owners’ commands. Yellow Pearl being assigned to receiving calls towards her Diamond was a very efficient job. It made the General’s life slightly easier, because she didn’t have to answer every gem that wanted to get in touch with her, and also, quite frankly – her assistant like it very much.

For some gems it was a relief that they didn’t have to speak to the Diamond in person. Even though Yellow Pearl wasn’t the nicest there is – she was still, just a pearl. It was much easier and less stressful to talk to her than the ruler. There are however specimens, who despise this situation. Yellow assistant can (by her Diamond’s word of course) refuse to let them speak to her at times when she’s too busy or simply doesn’t see this as necessary. And it makes their hues seethe* to have a **pearl** tell them what to do. Some of them have servants of their own, and so they’re used to seeing them obedient and humble. Meeting one that has even the smallest, shortest superiority over them – makes them extremely mad.

Blue and Yellow Pearl have been standing at the corner of the hallway of White Diamond’s ship for quite some time now. The whole Authority was inside the control room, to which leading doors were at the other end of the corridor.

They weren’t told to stand that far, but they started doing that a long time ago and it seemed like a good call. For one thing: this way they weren’t able to hear what’s happening inside. They didn’t want to. The Diamonds probably didn’t either. So it stayed this way. Second advantage of this arrangement, which they discovered much later, was that during this time – they could talk. 

They could easily see whether one of their superiors were leaving the room or not, and so they were able to quickly react. But for now they knew they have a free moment for themselves.

“I can imagine.” Said Blue Pearl. Her mouth was smiling, and although her eyes weren’t visible underneath the thick bangs, there was probably joy in them too.

It was nice to have a conversation with someone on the same level. In literally every aspect nevertheless: same gem type, same role, same type of the owner. It was… soothing.

Other pearls don’t feel as free around them. No one can blame them though: they belong to the highest elite. They might not have more abilities, nor greater authority, but the sole fact that they have a daily contact with the Diamonds – makes others uneasy. The Pearls are aware of that.

They are required to tell the leaders about every wrongdoing they witness. And even though they aren’t (so called) snitches and they only take into account the most important issues – other gems have no way of knowing that, so the best they can do, is to be cautious.

Fortunately, it doesn’t bother them much. This small circle was filled with Blue and Yellow Pearl, a couple of pearls that belong to White Diamond (even though they change from time to time, they often stay in contact) and now it was supposed to be enlarged with a Pearl who is being given to Pink Diamond at the moment. They have each other and honestly, they wouldn’t give away their rights to the Diamonds for anything.

SWOOSH!

A gem suddenly appeared from behind a corner. She’s been running, and stopped by rapidly sliding a few meters on the smooth floor. The slim, grey coloured Pearl quickly studied the others’ faces.

“They haven’t left yet, have they?”

“No.” Yellow Pearl answered the question with a very obvious answer. If the Diamonds had left, they wouldn’t be still standing here.

It made the other sigh in relief.

“Hi, Metal.” Blue Pearl greeted her smiling politely.

“Hi…” Metal Pearl came closer to her friends and leaned on the wall.

“Rough day?” Yellow assistant inquired.

Pearls are usually **very** organized. If they need to be in a hurry - like her friend was just a moment ago - it’s most likely not the fault of their own, but outside issues.

“Heh” Metal began fixing the strands of her bob styled hair that fell out off place while she ran ”How could you tell?” she sweetened her sarcasm with a charming, tired smile. “Tell me, you two…” she took a moment to think about her day of work “How does one **lose a ruby**?”

Both Pearls looked at her shocked, before they chuckled at the question.

“What?”

“Yeah.” Metal snickered “They took a couple to help peridots in electrical rooms. And one of them didn’t come back.” She was massaging her temples while the other two tried to conceal their laughter. Which wasn’t working. “She probably got lost in the labyrinth.” At this point all of them were giggling. “They’re looking for her right now.”

It took them a moment to recover.

“Those mazes are really complicated.” Blue Pearl said “I never go there alone.”

“True.” Yellow assistant confirmed “I always take at least one peridot with me.” And by ‘take’ she meant ‘ask to come with me’, because she can’t legally order them to. But usually it’s not a problem. Peridots are scattered all around those places and it’s often on one of their way, so they can accompany others.

“Peridots, yes.” Metal nodded in agreement. It’s common knowledge that peridots are very familiar with those places, and have a good orientation in the field.

“Poor ruby, though.” Blue gem added.

“Yes… I just hope she actually just got **lost**. By accident, and not run off as to be insubordinate…”

“No” Yellow snorted “She probably got tangled in the wires laying on the floor.”

All of them bursted out laughing once again. Metal Pearl though, regained her composure much quicker and went quiet for a moment.

“We’re laughing…” she drew attention of the other two “…but White Diamond won’t be.”

That. Silenced the cheerfulness.

Blue and Yellow Pearl studied their friend’s face worriedly.

“Do you **have to** report to her about that?” first one asked.

“She can’t blame you for it though.” Yellow said. Clearly it’s not the Pearl’s fault.

Both of them however had no way of knowing how exactly does serving **White** Diamond look like.

But Metal Pearl didn’t look like she was about to face danger. No. She wasn’t scared, she was… sad.

“No, no…” she brushed off some invisible dust from her shoulder “I just… can’t seem to be able to satisfy her recently.”

Before Metal was assigned to serve directly under White Diamond, she used to jump around many managers on Homeworld. Pearls don’t have to be made specifically for something or someone. They might be given or relocated at certain times, for various reasons. White Diamond however, has access to **all** of them, and she can choose which ones she wants, whenever she wants. The time she happened to take Metal under her rule was already… more than a thousand years ago. This one is staying strong.

_It's not your job, Metal._

_You literally can’t be solely responsible for that._

_Pearls can only help. We can’t make our owners happy by ourselves._

_White Diamond especially… isn’t someone who can let her happiness depend on just one gem._

_Oh, don’t blame yourself. Your work is splendid. I mean, you’ve kept holding on for so long!_

All of these thoughts went through their heads faster than a lightning. But before they were able to voice them, the doors at the end of the hallway suddenly swiftly opened.

The noise made the Pearls stand at attention. Blue Pearl, who’s been crouching near the wall up till now, quickly brushed her skirt to straighten it. They looked at the exit anticipatedly.

A small, pink coloured gem left the room, towards which the doors closed behind her. She looked around the place, and spotted the three gems. One last look at the huge entrance and she started walking towards them, closing the distance quite quickly.

The Pink Pearl.

“Welcome.” Blue assistant smiled politely.

“Hello.” The youngest one returned the greeting shyly.

“So, how did it go?” Yellow asked.

The three of them actually met before. Not long ago, before she was officially given to Pink Diamond, Blue and Yellow Diamond met with their Superior for a short briefing.  
She looked like and adequate pearl. Proper size and colour. Two buns of hair on each side of her head distinguished the feature which lower mannered gems would describe as ‘fanciness’. She was a little shy at first, but polite and over-all nice, like most newly created pearls.

The pink gem brought her folded hands to her chest and smiled.

“I believe I was approved.” The was clear joy in her eyes.

“Congratulations!” Blue Pearl was quick to share the happiness of others.

“Welcome to the entourage!” Metal Pearl patted her shoulder lightly in encouragement.

They started chatting quietly like they did before. The elder gems were throwing small advises or statements about the work Pink Pearl is about to start doing herself. Those were just social activities.

BEEP.

Metal brought attention on herself once again, when she opened one of her screens that required her insight. Others looked at her questioningly, seeing the worried look on her face.

But it suddenly changed into a sigh of relief. “Uff, they found her.”

Blue and Yellow smiled gladly.

“Who?” Pink Pearl asked, as she was uninformed.

“The ruby. They-“

Her sentence was cut short when all four of them now heard the gate to the chamber open again.

They jumped to form a line, silently watching and waiting. Now there was no one that could leave this room, but a Diamond.

Surely, Pink Diamond was the first one to appear. She looked inside the room, then at the Pearls standing further away, then inside the room again. Hesitantly she moved towards the assistants, trying, but failing to hide her hurry.

The four Pearls bowed doing a diamond salute once she approached them.

“Pink Diamond.” One of them formally and respectfully acknowledged her presence.

“Hey.” The ruler breathed before she stopped in front of them. “Yellow Pearl, Blue Pearl,” they looked up at her questioningly “do you perhaps know what-“ she stopped and looked behind herself to ensure that no one yet left the room after her “what’s going on between Yellow and Blue?” she whispered.

All four gems looked at her shocked. Clearly not understanding the question.

She seemed to realize it and rephrased it: “They’ve had an argument. Do you know what about?”

Although they probably didn’t have to, they all mimicked the Diamond’s air and choose to stay as quiet as they can.

“It is not to our knowledge, no.” Yellow Pearl answered quickly.

 _What is she on about again?_ She thought. Pink Diamond’s actions and manners always managed to surprise the ones around her. Not often in a positive way…

“Yes, but-“ she talked fast, not wanting to be heard by her superiors nearby “Maybe you at least have a feeling?”

_Oh for stars sake…_

“Our feelings are irrelevant.” Yellow assistant kept her respectful tone, but it didn’t go unnoticed by her friends that her voice was dry. It didn’t surprise Blue and Metal Pearl. They’ve already witnessed

Pink Diamond’s relations towards others and themselves. She was easy-going, non-threatening and lowly strict. Yellow Pearl described her delicately as ‘silly’.

The youngest of them however looked mortified by her free demeanor. But that’s only because she wasn’t yet used to it.

“Ehh…” the pink ruler looked disappointed “Is it about me?”

 _Ugh. We told you we don’t know. What don’t you understand?_ Yellow gem thought. But before she was about to rephrase it into a respectful, short answer, she was interrupted by Blue Pearl.

“No, it’s not about you.” She said quietly in a comforting tone.

“Pink.” Blue Diamond’s voice made the pearls straighten their poses once again. The significantly bigger ruler went out of the room and eyed the group. “Come.” She said lightly.

Pink Diamond quickly made her way towards the other. That gave Yellow Pearl a chance to whisper a hiss towards her counterpart.

“ **Why did you lie to her?** ” she nearly growled astonished, making sure that the members of the Authority don’t hear her.

“I didn’t.”

“Pearl?” a soft, authoritative voice echoed through the hallway. Blue Pearl didn’t get a chance to explain this matter further, before the threw herself jogging her owner’s way, being followed by the youngest.

Yellow and Metal were left watching as the two Diamonds leave with their friends.

 _Huh._ Yellow assistant started thinking.

She herself didn’t lie for sure. She didn’t know what did their superiors fight about this time. It wasn’t anything abnormal for them to argue occasionally. It didn’t matter as long as things don’t get physical, and they never do. Plus, they always make up after a while.

But did Blue Pearl knew? _Maybe._ Her Diamond seemed to have an easy relationship with her, perhaps she told her.

 _Oh well._ Yellow shrugged. It’s not a problem. They’ll come to terms eventually.  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1*) it makes their hues seethe - gem version of 'it makes their blood boil'.  
> DID YOU KNOW: Rebecca Sugar stated in an AMA that White is personally responsible for the creation of pearls.
> 
> "They'll come to terms eventually." Hmmmmmm will they? Do you want them to? Or should I just make them forget about it without the precious fluff?


	33. Honey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Good stuff?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For some reason this chapter was VERY difficult for me to finish.   
> But, as you can see - I managed.   
> Did I nail it tho? Let me know what you think ;)   
> I read and love all your comments and once again I'm telling my readers who don't have an account - you don't have to be logged it to comment ;)

It was pretty quiet.

The day went very calmly as the planet was smoothly rotating around its axis, and around the star - a hot ball of glowing gases, that lightened the part of the colony which direction it was facing. The opposite part, was covered in darkness as there was no source of brightness on it, or around it. This astronomical body had no moons. Therefore the surface was completely black, with no shadows nor visible outlines indicating the shape of the ground and objects on it, because there was no natural satellite that would reflect the sunlight. The one thing that could be seen from the ground were stars, and that also only when the sky was clear, unbothered by heavy clouds and mist. Depending on where the person was standing on the planet, if it was the place surrounded by murk at the moment – that time, was called night.

The Diamonds were however and the opposite side of the colony now. The sun was hiding behind a grey, smoked atmosphere filled with acids and small meteorites that gave in to the planet’s power of gravity, and were fated to float through space together with it forever.

Ever since Pink has been given her own Pearl, it didn’t go unnoticed by Yellow that her behaviour slightly changed.

She’s been focusing on her work more than before, and she’s become better at it. She familiarizes herself with new tasks faster, and is more confident while talking and asking Yellow questions about them. But the thing that stood out the most, was that her demeanor finally started to resemble the significant professionalism they’ve been trying to teach her.

Apparently presence of one’s own subordinate brings out the inborn competence. Eons of time spent with Yellow and Blue, watching their manners and moves (even subconsciously), somewhat taught Pink how to be an owner of a pearl. She talked more formally, and properly. The Pearl was helping her and doing whatever she was told, like she’s supposed to. Overall, even though the Diamonds didn’t suddenly raise their expectations of Pink, Yellow became a tad calmer. Maybe not about the role of her purpose and performance, but about the future. Because things were going the right way. Despite the circumstances.

Partly it might’ve been the colony’s appearance and role, that stood behind Pink’s composure. The planet was rich in resources, minerals and nutrients, but it was fairly young. Most of the life on it kept itself low near the ground. The majority of organic beings there were plants with very strong roots that reached deep inside the soil. Other carbon based creatures, called animals, were yet undeveloped and small. Some even smaller than pebbles. That being so, there weren’t many things that Pink could’ve gotten distracted with. So she concentrated on her work, more carefully than usual.

“Yellow?” Pink asked looking up from her station which she’s been managing for a few hours now.

“Hmm?” Yellow was standing on the other side of the platform, cautiously calculating and arranging things on holographic blueprints.

“Have you received the report about new production of topazes yet?”

The General put away the tool she was holding and walked towards the main part of her control room, near which Pink was sitting. They’ve talked about said matter earlier. She didn’t know what business Pink had in knowing the answer to this question, but Yellow didn’t mind providing it. Pretty much anything work-related that Pink is willing to take on, they are happy to assist with.

“Yes.” She said after checking the monitor.

Pink stood up and put on her most professional face (which never made an authoritative impression on her seniors, but they were glad she was capable of making it).

“Do you mind if **I** go verify it with kindergarteners?” 

Yellow looked at her for a moment, thinking. She wasn’t going to do that herself. There were times when she had to, but these days she has assigned other managing gems that she trusted to do that for her. Basically it was their job now.

It’s not really something that Pink should be doing, but at the same time… any experience is good. Especially since she’s been behaving so well today. Maybe she deserves the benefit of the doubt.

Yellow nodded “Take my Pearl with you.” Just to be sure everything goes right. And if it doesn’t – to be sure she finds out about it.

Pink smiled at the approval and jumped from the station. Her Pearl had to hurry down the stairs quicker than usual. Her owner hasn’t yet learned that, even though she’s a lot smaller than her fellow Diamonds, her movements are still often faster than other gems, making it not the easiest task to keep up with her.

“I’ll go to the western unit then.” She turned around to face Yellow again “Could you wait for me before opening that file from Amber Agate?”

She remembered the matter they were discussing earlier. Architecture plans that were very simple, so Pink was happy to be able to understand them. She picked up interest mostly because of the pattern of glass panels that she said were ‘funny’. Yellow didn’t mind going through them together, even more so when Pink was finally starting to care about work.

“Of course, honey.” She smiled warmly, which the other returned and walked towards the exit.

It was nice to see the youngest getting interested in something appropriate at last. Even if it isn’t something big or significant, it’s still something.

Such a surprisingly pleasant day today for Yellow. Despite her own workload getting bigger and bigger every passing second, constant stress and pressure from, well… being a Diamond – watching as one of the most important things for the Empire at the moment is going the right way – tipped the balance.

“Honey?” a sudden disturbance of the peace Yellow had in her control room nearly made her flinch.

She immediately recognized the so familiar voice. A voice that had a unique power of sounding soft and tender, and at the same time – severe and murderous. And she had no idea which one of those was really in the owner’s intent right now.

She turned around, not getting up from her throne, to look at Blue Diamond who was standing in the farther part of the room. From what it looked like, she entered through the side door. _But when?_

“What are you doing here, Blue?” she asked boredly and went back to managing the screens opened in front of her.

They haven’t spoken much lately, which Yellow figured from when this situation started was because of the argument they’ve had. She didn’t even remember what exactly it was about. It didn’t matter. Wasn’t the first time they fought. Life moves on, and so does work.

Blue Diamond however was a complete opposite. She tends to isolate herself every time something makes her uncomfortable between them. The only form of communication she accepts are short reports, statements, one-word answers. Shall they slowly get over it though, she moves on to teasing her and generally being annoying. And Yellow was sure she was doing it on purpose. Either giving her silent treatment or constant attitude while in each other’s presence.

The General didn’t have time, nor patience for it. Nevertheless she always had to put up with it.

“I disembarked plug robonoids on Devotum Moon* and thought I’d check up on you two,” she walked towards Yellow and got on the platform. “Where did she go?”

From that question her counterpart figured out that she’s been here short, or at least heard only the last part of their conversation.

“I let her go verify some reports with technicians. She was very engaged today, so I think she can do it.”

Blue crossed her arms, now standing next to Yellow and shooting a short glance at the door. “Well, that’s good.”

From that tone the other knew that she was smiling. Why wouldn’t she, it was always progress whenever Pink wanted to be involved.

“ ‘Honey’? “ Blue now turned her eyes on her, which Yellow finally met.

“What?”

She knew what her azure counterpart meant. It actually was the first time Blue heard Yellow call Pink that. But she asked like she had no idea what the Diplomat was talking about.

“When did you give her such an affectionate nickname?” she smiled quizzically, still smiling.

“I don’t remember. Quite some time ago.”

Yellow actually didn’t remember when exactly did it happened – time wise. All she recalls is some day, suddenly just referring to Pink with a fond pet name. It seemed to be received well, as apart from a smile she could see a blush on Pink’s face. Yellow had an impression that Pink was somewhat low-spirited beforehand. It was something that could’ve been connected to their recent meeting with White, and although the Superior did not display any image that could be interpreted as anger or displeasure towards the youngest, she must’ve grasped some sort of a negative feeling from her, which effected in her being nervous and slightly sad.

So Yellow picked up the word. To let the other know that she’s not just an addiction they need to deal with, but a part of something bigger that they create together. To let her know that she’s wanted and acknowledged. It’s the smallest thing that Yellow was only aware of subconsciously. She’s not the most empathetic person, she’s only capable of thinking of simple, little gestures. So she just went with it.

It appeared to have some sort of positive effect, and after a while, it just became a habit that nobody considered out of place. Honestly, Yellow liked calling her that. Although she didn’t know why, and she never thought about it.

“What did she do to deserve it?” Blue continued, and Yellow heard the so familiar, teasing tone in her voice.

“Nothing in particular. Do you need anything from me?” she tried to change the subject. The General did not see any reason for having a conversation about such a trivial thing.

But – lowkey – she was glad Blue appeared to have abandoned her dismay related to previous events. It would be nice to finally talk to her normally, but she often choses quite weird topics to pursue. _Oh well…_ That’s one of her traits that makes Yellow likes her so much. Strange for a diamond. But there’s nothing they can do about it.

“You never called **me** anything of sort.” The azure ruler wasn’t angry. Oh nooo. She was having fun.

“Well,” Yellow spoke, comfortably seated and managing her display without looking at the other standing next to her “you were never the size of my palm.”

“Huh,” Blue pulled up a throne for herself to take a seat next to her counterpart “so it’s a size thing?”

“What? No.”

Yellow was slightly surprised by the idea. Mostly because she never thought of it being the reason. It’s rather… Pink’s behaviour, her general way of being that made the ruler call her that.

“Would you call me that if I was smaller?” Blue moved quickly and closed the distance betwixt their chairs, making the gap between them disappear. “Would **that** earn me terms of endearment?”

Yellow faced the other, who was now leaning on the armrest of **her** throne and smiling shamelessly.

The General didn’t know if Blue takes on this behaviour to make her angry, but today she was having none of it to let her get what she wants. She was in too good of a mood.

“Maybe.” she smiled lightly and shrugged.

“Then it **is** about size.”

“No,” Yellow said calmly, ready and even eager to carry this conversation on Blue’s terms. Mostly because _she’s probably not expecting that._ “it’s not.”

“ **I** could call you that even now.”

_Wait._

Blue straightened her position on the throne, seemingly considering the idea seriously. “I could give you a nice pet name,” _No._ “Just give me a second…”

Ice cold water poured on her back. That’s how it felt to suddenly lose the peace on her mind. It was so easy, so calm until now. But when Blue put such an idea in her head it felt… _Inappropriate. Weird?_ _Embarrassing._ Yellow grimaced with worry. _Don’t do that Blue. Why-_ Her core began getting warmer.

“No, you don’t have to-“

“Why not,” Blue interrupted her and leaned closer to look straight into her eyes “ **darling**?”

The moment of silence, consisting of them staring at each other, one expression of bewilderment, one of amusement, lasted a few long seconds before they both burst out laughing.

It sounded funny. Close to ridiculous.

Blue’s reaction assured Yellow that she was just joking. It’s good. _We’re good._ It means things are now back to normal.

It took them a while to regain their composure, but the joyful atmosphere remained. Blue picked up another topic about Pink, and both of them now gladly participated in a free, informal conversation.

During their whole meeting the General was very aware of how warm her core become, and somehow didn’t want to reduce its temperature. The feeling wasn’t bad however, in any way. It actually felt… nice.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1*) Devotum Moon - a planet that is called 'moon' despite not being a satellite. Is under rulage of Blue Diamond. It's not shaped like a perfect globe, but rather like a slightly squished ball. It has a couple hundret of secondary planets, that form a thick ring around it. Because of it's very slow movement around its sun and uneven rotation around its axis, a significantly bigger part of the planet it usually beset in nighttime.


	34. Downfall

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blush-coloured trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New, fresh chapter straight from the oven! Be careful casue it's still hot!

_Why…_

“Just what made you think it’s a good idea?” Yellow’s angry voice echoed in the chamber.

_I thought everything was going well…_

“I didn’t think it would be such a big deal!” Pink’s retort followed.

“You could’ve gotten hurt! Or lost!”

“Other gems are there the whole time! How could I’ve gotten hurt?”

“Pink, we talked about this,” Yellow got down on one knee to be able to meet the other’s eyes on the same level when Pink stood on top of her desk. “The injectors’ engines can induce earthquakes. You could’ve fallen in the crumble! And what would you do then?” She looked genuinely worried.

“I would just- get out of there! Obviously.” Pink snarled angrily. Her attitude was so out of place it was actually shocking.

“No. You’d get **stuck**.” Yellow hissed.

“Well but I didn’t!” Pink shouted. It was astonishing. “So what is the problem!?”

Yellow severely gritted her teeth. She was hardly able to remain calm. The behaviour Pink took on was just…

“The problem is that you shouldn’t have wandered off in the first place!”

“But why!? I am a DIAMOND! Other gems go wherever they want – why cant I!?”

_It was so…_

“They don’t go wherever they want – they go where they’re supposed to. And **you** were supposed to come back after you’re done!”

“It’s not like I destroyed anything! I didn’t even talk to anyone so why couldn’t I be there!?”

_Disrespectful._

Her snappy replies sounded way too arrogant to be tolerated. But it didn’t look like Yellow was about to lose her temper. No. She looked… disappointed.

“Pink, this isn’t Homeworld. This is a colony. **My** colony. Even Blue isn’t allowed to just stroll wherever she wants without my permission,” she gestured at her counterpart who’s been standing nearby and silently listening with an angry look on her face.

It might’ve sounded exaggerated but it probably wasn’t. Yellow Diamond’s work, as well as her gems’ was very organized, and she wouldn’t like if Blue risked getting it disrupted in any way. And it worked both ways. Still, it wasn’t like any of them ever tried to do that.

“Then why don’t I get **my own** colony!? So I can do whatever I want?!”

At that Yellow snorted amused, with a spark of anger still very visible. Even Blue looked at Pink, baffled with such an absurd, unbelievable thought. She wondered if the small Diamond really considered this a smart idea. Which it wasn’t.

“ **Your** colony? You can’t do the most basic tasks, or follow simplest orders – such as this one – and you want to govern a **whole** colony?”

“But I **did** what you told me to!”

“Then **where** is the statement?”

Pink looked at her taken aback. Her stormy expression disappeared and was replaced with a nervous frown.

“Where did you sign the confirmation?” Yellow continued, knowing very well that Pink failed to execute that task properly.

The youngest Diamond dropped her head, seemingly defeated. Her tiny fists clenched on her sides.

Yellow grunted in irritation, stood up and walked to the other side of the station. “And you dare to threaten **my Pearl** on top of that.” She growled.

At that Pink’s head shot up wildly, her eyes open wide – mirror like, oval circles. “I didn’t threaten her!” She actually looked shocked, even scared by such an accusation.

“Well, you certainly won’t have a chance to do that again.”

“I DIDN”T-“

“That’s enough, Pink.” Blue said sternly, decided that she needs to have a say and contribute to ending this.

“You won’t be allowed to work on your own again any time soon.” Yellow worded aloud the resolution she made her mind about probably at the very beginning of the conversation.

“But-“

“End of discussion.”

And the day started so fine…

Blue and Yellow Diamond were happily chatting when suddenly dozen of gems started sending the latter messages. Some informing, some alarming. Either way it was clear that Pink overstayed her visit outside the control base, which they overlooked, thinking that since Yellow Pearl didn’t contact them, perhaps the young ruler was simply taking her work slow, but that nothing bad had happened.

Technically, nothing did. No gem was hurt. Nothing was destroyed.

Upon further, very quick inspection, they found out that Pink Diamond, once she left the base, went towards the technicians’ wing, asked them about reports of the spoken matter, and then wandered off to roam around the kindergarten field. Even more so irresponsibly – dragging two pearls with her, who were not allowed to separate from the ruler.

It doesn’t sound so terrible initially. And yet… there is so many wrongs with what had happened.

Pink herself offered to do something work-related. Despite the fact that she’s been studying and learning about professionalism for so long, going through the importance of her role and formality of her responsibilities – even though she (seemingly) **did** verify the accounts with a peridot chief, she reduced it to a verbal confirmation, and didn’t sign, nor send the report to the base.

Without authorization she went to the outer area, which isn’t secured by a path suited for a gem of her importance. It was not a safe place to be, especially during the time of injectors being planted as explained by Yellow. Yes diamonds are extremely durable, but it doesn’t mean they’re supposed to challenge their toughness in any way [without even comparing it to her seniors who are **a lot, A LOT** stronger]. Not to mention she took two pearls with her, who are so much weaker it’s difficult to even put it into numbers. On the side note it disturbed the workers there, as they were uncomfortable, and not used to such close presence of a member of the Authority.

Yellow Pearl’s respect for the Diamonds is immeasurable. She honors them in all they do, and obeys their orders, but the Diamond who - by far – dominates over her, is her own. And said Diamond told her a long time ago, not to take orders from the youngest, unless she’s officially authorized to so do. After Pink’s many incidents of fooling around and her inability for leadership – it was no surprise they disallowed her to command gems that don’t belong to her. Yellow Pearl’s work and mannerism on the other hand was first class, so she was assured it wasn’t disrespectful. And it’s been a long time since both her and Pink accepted that fact, and learned to live with it without any complications.

And yet, even though that’s what she was supposed to do – Yellow Pearl did not inform her Diamond about Pink’s misacting. When asked why, she said the ruler ‘forbid her to’. Now, that is something the pink gems isn’t allowed to do, nor something the Pearl must accept. If she did however, it means the order was not regular, in line. It means Pink Diamond used words or demeanor that forced the other to listen, despite it counting as her going against **Yellow** Diamond’s orders. Which she never, **ever** dares to do.

It’s simply unheard of.

…But the worst thing Pink did… she did before she even left the control base…

The whole time she was behaving so well, acting properly, appearing engaged in work and even looking like she was content with that. She made Yellow trust her.

When confronted about what happened, Pink showed no remorse whatsoever. On the contrary actually – she was presumptuous. She refused to listen to reason, to try to understand what they were trying to tell her. She didn’t even give them her own reasoning, only jumped into defense from the start (very poor one at that). The whole dispute couldn’t even be considered a mature one – she made it look like an infantile argument, devoid of logical points from her side. Unprecedented for a diamond – even a diamond like **her**.

This attitude killed the earlier impression of her propriety. It looked like she… manipulated her senior. Yellow Diamond let her guard down, and it seemed this is what Pink wanted only to be able to misbehave afterwards. She abused her privilege, took advantage of the other’s trust and hope… only to go down, taking Yellow’s confidence with her.

Blue sighed. She couldn’t understand why Pink took the path she took. If she wanted to go – they’d go with her. They’ve done it before, a lot of times. They didn’t mind letting Pink explore and watch the outside world. It was a good thing actually, and frankly quite nice to spend time this way – the three of them together. Pink would usually talk over them, jump around, ask questions and made everyone laugh. Such a silly ways she had, and they were all at peace… Or so Blue thought. She couldn’t wrap her head around it – what were they doing wrong then?

She sensed Pink Diamond looking up at her questioningly. They were walking through her blue spaceship’s hallway, having left Yellow and her control base. A change in her schedule appeared very quickly – she was going to drop Pink off on Homeworld, before setting off towards her own colonies. It was a reasonable decision. She can’t let Pink ‘semi-work’ with her right now, not after what she’s done.

And it wasn’t a punishment for her misdeed exclusively, no. More for her refusal to acknowledge it.

“You were really disappointing today.” Blue said quietly, without looking at the other.

Yellow was in such a good mood before. It didn’t happen often. And even more rarely Blue had a chance to witness it. Her free demeanor, genuine smile and laughter… so uncommon to see her unbothered by the enormous weight of responsibility on her shoulders. The light in her eyes added up to Blue’s joy, and she was the happiest to share it.

It made her nonexistent heart melt, seeing this light disappear. 

Pink sniffed quietly with tears in her eyes.

“I didn’t threaten her.” She whispered in a sad, high-pitched voice.

 _As if that was the only problem._ Blue thought. But seeing Pink upset like that still made her feel bad too, so she wasn’t going to say anything more. It was clear she was troubled. Just like the rest of them was.

Blue still could feel Yellow Diamond’s aura. The anger and disappointment was so hurtful to see. But what really saddened Blue was that it wasn’t directed mainly at Pink… but at herself. Which pained the azure Diamond even more.

Perhaps Pink will rethink her actions properly. The time it will take her however, she will spend alone.

During the rest of their walk, the only thing that disturbed the silence was one more of Pink’s sniffs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Over 65 THOUSAND words and I can't get at least 100 comments here?  
> Seriously... come on. It's for me to be happy, and for you to tell me what you like or not.


	35. Pebbles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Searching for some aid.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments! <3 We finally reached triple digits! <3 
> 
> Also I forgot to mention it earlier but
> 
> YELLOW DIAMOND CALLING PINK "HONEY" IS A CANON THING.

Blue swiftly took out her diamond communicator and opened the screen of yellow colour.

_Pick up. Hurry, please, pick up._

A sweet feeling of relief embraced her form when she saw Yellow Pearl answer the call, and upon noticing the ruler, without a word quickly direct the screen on her counterpart.

“Yellow!” she said and before the other could respond with more than an expression telling that she’s listening, she rapidly got to the point “Listen, Pink’s essence is leaking.”

The General’s eyes opened wider, her eyebrow cocked quizzically “Oh?” A short sound giving nothing but a request to present more information.

Blue Diamond was very clearly in a hurry. She had different problems too at the moment, which required her intervention first. She was currently heading towards her ship through a bridge after leaving Pink in her palace. She couldn’t even stop in her step while talking to Yellow.

“Yes, she said it happened before, and I suppose that’s where those ‘pebbles’ we talked about earlier came from.” Blue remembered her counterpart mentioning a questionable presence around pink palace’s hallways. 

Right before she was about to go back to her ship, she saw those specimens getting out through cracks in the walls and the floor in Pink’s room. What drew her attention to it was actually the youngest Diamond’s squeak of surprise when she noticed them too.

Blue turned to her and crouched down to inspect the small, grey beings. “Did you make them?” she felt weirded out, because she knew about the emergency call on one of her colonies, and already was supposed to be on her way there.

“MAKE TH- NO.” Pink denied, seemingly surprised herself by those creatures. “They’ve been here for a while. I don’t know where they came from.”

Blue took a moment to examine the situation. Those were pebbles, gem-like living things or no specific gem-type that could be called anything but a rock, hence their name. They were tiny, fairly conscious and-

“Hello”

“Hiiii”

“Big Diamond”

“Hello”

“Your highness”

“My Diamond”

“Pink Diamond”

“Pink Diamond”

“Hello”

Communicative.

Their faces were full of smiles as they greeted the monarchs (or themselves? Blue wasn’t sure – there was many of them and she couldn’t tell which were saying what).

She came to a conclusion when they started heading towards Pink, happily talking and putting their hands up in admiration.

“You **did** create them.” It was quite obvious. Pink was the main target of their attention.

“I didn’t mean to.” She looked up at her pleadingly.

The Diamonds’ power is able to bring objects to life.

It’s a common occurrence, mostly seen in older rulers’ buildings and ships. Simply because their magic is very difficult to contain. They’re able to store their essence, but a bit of magic sometimes manages to get out through pipes and holders. So far they found no way to control it completely, so they simply accepted this as a normality.

It their case though, the objects brought to life are quite big – walls, sometimes whole hallways, pillars, frames etc. Pink’s magic however is smaller [DUH], and so it appears the beings she created formed from tiny pieces of rock and dust gathered between tiles and corners of the structure around her chambers.

_But she hasn’t been extracting her essence here?_

“It’s nothing bad, Pink.”

“It’s not?” at that the youngest visibly lost the tension she held in her shoulders, and became at peace with pebbles surrounding her feet.

“No, but have you been losing your essence here?”

“My essence?” Pink knew what the idea of diamond essence is, but she’s never yet been to any extraction chambers with her seniors for this purpose. There was no other reason for it than that they were waiting to find out whether she can exude it or not. “I’m not sure… I guess I have been… sweating?” she looked up nervously, not really sure what other word to use.

That same moment Blue saw a single droplet, slowly making its way on the other’s temple. It was subtly glowing, with a barely visible pink light. A very delicate sample of diamond essence.

The Diplomat remembered that Pink’s been slightly crying. Her tears might’ve been enhanced with it too. Rather every substance a diamond’s body may produce – is enriched with magic. And so when Pink let loose of all of these drops on her floor – well… **pebbles**.

_It’s a good thing she has her essence though._

Unfortunately, Blue once again felt the crying of her communicator. The alarm went on and on, but she still stayed with Pink long enough to make sure she is calmed down.

“Don’t worry. Sadly I can’t take you to the extraction chamber right now…” Blue stood up and took out her screen “But it’s not a pressing matter.” She started backing away, out of the room.

It’s not exactly a faulty feature, leaking of essence. It can happen if the Diamond isn’t yet used to it completely. Holding it in is not an issue either, it has no affect on the owner. Worst thing about that is that it’s… not something the public should see. Producing, as well as collecting diamond essence is an… **intimate** act, that as a norm takes place in private (either alone or in the presence of other Diamonds, but no civils or any other gems. Even personal assistants are required to keep their distance).

Oh well, the only beings beside Blue and Pink that might’ve seen it were pebbles. But somehow, Blue didn’t see it as a big problem, considering their type. Both their Pearls were dismissed.

“I need to go, Pink. We can deal with this matter later… or maybe I can arrange something…” she added the last part with a whisper, considering a couple of options, but remaining painfully aware of the alarms going off on all her communicators and screens.

“What am I supposed to do with them?” Pink asked, now amused by the tiny creatures, crouching and picking them up one by one.

“Whatever you want. They’re yours.” Blue suddenly realized that this might be a good exercise for Pink in acting as a superior. “Just, don’t kill them.” She added before completely disappearing out of sight. Remembering Pink’s temper and impetuousness, there were some doubts if leaving her with such fragile gem types was a good idea. Especially since they were harmless, it wouldn’t look good if she just shattered them for no reason, especially by accident.

“There’s an emergency on Saltwater Moon*. And I need to go there right now.” Blue finally managed to get inside her ship and quickly took her position in the cockpit, without going into insignificant at the moment details. “Do you have a moment to go to extraction chambers with her?” 

“You know I don’t, Blue.” Yellow started browsing through her own screens, resigned.

_Oh stars right…_ The azure Diamond remembered now, that her counterpart is preparing to go to… **war**. She sighed in frustration.

“But it’s not like it’s necessary right away? She can just wait.” Yellow asked.

“Yes, but I… I don’t want to leave her with it alone…” She felt bad about that. Pink probably wasn’t sure what to do with herself right now. “I dismissed her Pearl…” she thought out loud to stress the fact that Pink now has only a dozen of pebbles to keep her company.

Normally it wouldn’t be a problem. Pink can do **things** , and she is very **rarely** left alone. She usually reads, watches videos (doubtfully for studying), or generally plays with her screens, decorations and furnishings. These days she even had her own Pearl. But while her essence is leaking, for the first time nevertheless, it’s probably not very pleasant to be on your own. She needs some help. Some… _comfort_. Especially because... her mentality didn't appear to be top-drawer. 

“Ugh… Maybe we could leave someone with her…?” Blue opened one more panel to add to twenty already open ones while she took off with her ship. She began searching, but with little to no hope.

She noticed a sudden gleam in Yellow’s eye. The General’s expression showed revelation, as if she figured out a solution to the problem.

“I think we could arrange something…” she said with a smile slowly appearing on her face.

Blue sighed in relief, realizing how comforting it is to have someone by her side, to give a helping hand any time it’s needed. Someone like Yellow.

But hesitation was still there.

“Do you have some gem suitable for that? Would your Pearl manage?”

There was absolutely no gem for whom assisting a Diamond while she’s producing her essence would be appropriate. Blue didn’t believe any gem would be even comfortable with that. **But** , it’s not like Pink’s leaking incessantly. That’s not how things work. She simply woke up her ability to produce essence, but it won’t work unconsciously. There are mere drops that can appear on her form from time to time, until she properly collects it. Still, it’s enough of an incident unbecoming to take place in the presence of anyone else but a diamond.

Maybe it won’t happen though. Maybe they can risk it. For now it would be enough if there was someone beside her to tell her not to wander around the palace, and make sure she doesn’t get out of control from excitement she seemed to display. And also to check if she doesn’t go overboard with her newest subordinates…

“Oh, I have more than just **some gem**.” Yellow turned to face Blue and showed her a smug, crooked smile full of white teeth.

Behind her counterpart, the azure Diamond saw an opened call, of shade of all the colours of the light.

Right. There is a **certain** person who would know **exactly** what to do, who just so happens to be staying on Homeworld too at the very moment.

_I thought about that, but_

“I thought she was busy?” she asked with a hint of hope rising around her aura. That would be the **best** option.

“We’re **all** busy.” Yellow puffed and rolled her eyes. Her smile however, remained. “But she will make time for **that**.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1*) Saltwater Moon - one of Blue Diamond's colonies.


	36. Tests part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Any time with the biggest mom  
> is a quality time <3 
> 
> [ or grandma. whatever your headcanon is - they both fit ;) ]

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry it's late.   
> The chapter came out WAY too long so I divided it in two parts.   
> Already finishing the second. Will post it on Saturday OR sooner if we reach 5500 hits <3

She barely made a turn. The pebble jumping from her hands didn’t even get to the ground yet, when she heard a loud, magical sound of a diamond chime. One that has been the rarest for her to hear, but still one of the most familiar things a diamond can feel even deep inside her core.

She smiled to herself. Her new, tiny subordinates quickly escaped from the sight, taking hiding under the floor’s and wall’s tiles. Before she was even able to blink and turn around, the chord’s owner appeared behind her in a flash.

“What are you doing here, Starlight?” one hand on her hip, second loosely grasping the corner of the hallway from behind which she came.

Pink couldn’t help but let her eyes twinkle and squint involuntarily, as the sudden brightness of White Diamond’s form lightened the whole visible interior. “Hey, White!” she shouted joyfully.

“I don’t think you are supposed to be wandering through the palace right now.” The highest standing monarch bend down for a short moment to be able to meet the other’s eye. She then moved her fingers in the air, which made a white sphere appear out of nowhere and surround Pink’s form.

She, although surprised at first, quickly positioned herself comfortably, sitting cross-legged inside a bubble which rose up in the air and was already following White’s side while she took off.

White Diamond is very fast. This impression was caused not only by her size, but by her overall demeanor and skill. When she walked it looked like she was flowing, meeting no obstacles on her course other than air, for her form to quickly cut and create a gust of wind. It was very similar to the way she was working.

From the angle of the bubble she was in, Pink couldn’t make out her senior’s face clearly. She was steadily flying close next to her, on the height of her shoulder.

A small amount of enthusiasm made her stand inside the sphere, and start pushing on it vigorously, hitting its front wall with her side in short intervals of time, to make it move forward, and perhaps be able to meet the other’s eye. “Where are we going?”

“One of my chambers.” White said freely without stopping in her step. The bubble significantly smaller than her hand, was loyally flittering next to her, keeping its distance unaltered.

“Not extraction chambers?”

“Not yet.” She turned for a second to show the pink gem her smile.

The magical sphere, acting as a transportation device at the moment, was perfectly round. Like most bubbles. It’s surface was smooth, but not enough to make it too slippery for anyone inside. And it wasn’t often that someone was inside actually. Usually bubbles are used to store gemstones (or its pieces) and objects, sometimes to move them from place to place. White Diamond however was also able to surround the Diamonds, (herself included), inside it – that’s how big of a bubble she could make. It was a very practical and easy way to get in or out of her ship.

In Pink’s case though, she was the one inside it most often. It wasn’t a disgraceful act, nor a form of some sort of punishment. It was merely the easiest, most comfortable way for White Diamond to move together with her. All three of her seniors don’t particularly fancy making her walk with them, because to keep up she would have to run. Blue and Yellow usually carry her. (Blue mostly.) To keep up with White’s pace though, she would have to sprint, and even then she probably wouldn’t be able to meet the line of her feet often.

The supreme Diamond wasn’t keen on carrying the youngest. She tried a couple of times, but the turbulence on one side, and a feeling of something fragile, dangerously jiggling between her fingers didn’t appeal to any of them. To White mostly. Pink didn’t mind that very much, since she felt content and safe inside the other’s palm. It was difficult for her to remain calm and unmoved while there, and so she understood why White might’ve not liked it… Moreover maybe it just probably… felt weird to her.

And so they both settled on Pink being carried by a bubble. And it was a **fine** bubble. It wasn’t sound proof, so that they could still talk. The walls of it were basically one way, round windows – Pink was able to see everything clearly from inside, but no one saw her, only a white sphere. The reason for that was quite simple – it wasn’t a very graceful picture, nor any gems were supposed to see one of their leaders in such an… unprecedented position.

The inside of the bubble delicately smelled like something Pink identified as chlorine, and some other smell she wasn’t able to recognize. But it was _nice_.

It was quite common for White to spend time with her from time to time when neither Blue or Yellow were available. Being the highest standing governor, she had the least time for that, so it always made Pink feel… good. She started off with this feeling too this time… but then she began thinking why does White Diamond might want to meet with her. Especially now that she knew they aren’t going to the extraction chambers…

She quickly became nervous and scared a little… because she was almost certain about the reason.

They came inside one of White’s private chambers. It was one that Pink didn’t remember visiting before, but then again, they all looked very similar. White-grey-silver colours of the whole interior made it difficult to follow with any changes, especially since it was all **gigantic** for Pink. She looked like a lonely dot standing out on a shiny background.

The bubble lowered itself close to the surface of White’s desk, and disappeared with a quiet ‘pop’, letting Pink out and fall on her lower back, since she didn’t manage to balance herself fast enough to land on her feet.

The worry intensified. She stood up and looked up timidly, not knowing how to get out of the trouble but willing to try to lessen White’s anger at least slightly.

“Listen…” she started fiddling with her hands “I didn’t mean to… I didn’t want to-“

“Oh, no no. We aren’t going to talk about that right now.” White interrupted her and tapped her index finger on a board placed on the elevation of her desk. A simple sign, telling Pink where she’s supposed to stand.

The tiny Diamond looked at her wide-eyed. It was certain that she knew - White Diamond knew about everything that was happening, everywhere, concerning every gem. But it seems like she doesn’t feel the need to talk with Pink about what happened on Yellow’s colony. So she’s not going to get scolded!

_Cool._

Pink smiled hesitantly, not able to fully believe that they will actually avoid the subject, and jumped towards the place her superior pointed at.

White seated herself comfortably at the station. The youngest was placed so that she was at the height of the Superior’s chest, but there was still more than enough room for her elbows to lean on the table, and… for many, many things to lie on it.

She took a moment to browse the screens and rummage through the drawers, before she eventually brought up a…pot _(whaaa…?)_ for Pink to see, and placed it nearby her feet. It was divided in two parts inside, that were separated from each other so that the dark soil in each of them didn’t mix. One part was empty, with nothing but ground, and second had a tiny, green sprout, happily sticking out from the surface.

“I heard your essence has leaked.” White finally focused her attention on Pink’s presence.

Said gem blushed furiously. She was embarrassed not because of the leaking, but because she didn’t exactly know what to do with it, nor with herself right now. It made her feel… unqualified. Even though the other Diamonds always help her and teach her everything, being aware of the fact that Blue and Yellow never needed such assistance, put her at a disadvantage of self-confidence.

“Let’s see what it brings.” She said gently.

Pink looked at her bewildered. Her form unmoved, eyes wide as plates stared at the pot presented in front of her for a moment, until she gained the courage to direct them at White questioningly. _What do I… What do I do…?_

White sighed lightly “Just produce a tad of essence, and insert it on this multicellular organism first.” She tapped the part of the pot with a sprout in it with the end of her sharp nail. The whole container was smaller than her finger.

_Alright…_ Pink thought.

She looked at her hands quizzically. Then started rubbing them on her shoulders. Then ruffled her hair with her fingers. Then run them through her face, torso and tights nervously.

“You don’t know how to do it, do you?” White asked quietly after a minute that for Pink felt like eternity.

“I **do** know how!” she defended herself, but there was a tune of sadness in her voice “I just…” she rubbed her arm again “I can’t get it out so easily.”

“Hmm. I guess extraction chambers **do** help it go smoother.” White brought up a finger to her mouth while thinking.

Gems’ bodies are highly hydrophobic. The fact that they can produce liquid substances is a magical feature. The diamond essence is proven to flow easier if the owner’s form is in contact with another, non-solid matter. Blue Diamond prefers wet fluids, such as water. Yellow Diamond favors vapor and moisture. Both of those however can work with any diamond just as well.

The percent of the help extraction chambers bring however, is actually small. About 10%. Maybe twenty at certain occasions. Their main purpose is for the image and their main ‘helping feature’ – is privacy. A Diamond’s body practically ‘melting’ out of nowhere, doesn’t look as… confidential, if it coincides with an outside wetness. Even though those chambers are private, they still care about impression. While inside, it helps them relax greatly, and that makes production of the essence much easier.

But they still are very much capable of producing it outside.

…Or at least they should be.

“Well, I can’t force it, but maybe…” White leaned down and took Pink gently in her hands, without lifting her from the desk.

_What are you-_

She felt her superior’s giant fingers touch her form. She wasn’t doing anything like Pink was just a moment ago, just moving her body so that she could take a look at every part. She studied her arms, ruffled her hair while observing her head, watched her back for a moment. Basically she was looking for some leaking essence.

It didn’t feel weird for Pink. She’s been examined before. Every time by someone much, much bigger than her. She had no fear or concern about the process. All her seniors were very delicate with her. White especially. It might’ve been connected to the fact that she’s the biggest. Enormous, compared to Pink [and every other gem]. And with a Diamond that came out the size smaller than her hand, she tried her best to be gentle. Even though gems’ bodies, and even more so – diamonds’ bodies are extremely strong and durable, she felt no need to actually challenge their toughness or cause them any discomfort.

Pink thought it was nice of her.

She also thought it was quite amusing to watch her struggle with such a tiny thing like herself.  
  
She felt the other lift her head up and carefully study her face. One of the black, sharp nails smoothly stroked her cheek and stopped at her mouth. The nail slowly pushed down on the lower set of her teeth to open it wider-

“Bwahahahahahah!” Pink burst out laughing suddenly. It made the other’s touch retreat in a flash.

White’s other hand stroked her sides in a weird way and

_It tickled!_

Pink composed herself quickly after seeing the other’s face. White was gravely terrified.

“Sorry! I’m sorry. I’m fine! I’m fine!” she said wanting to calm the monarch down.

_She probably thought she hurt me…_

White massaged her temples and sighed heavily, evidently irritated with the youngest’s behaviour.

“Just use the essence from your mouth.”

Gems’ mouth and throat are permanently damp, for them to be able to speak and communicate. This wetness in diamonds’ case is blended with their magic, with makes a close resemblance to their essence.

Pink was trying her hardest to wrap her head around what White wants her to do. She sat on her knees in front of the pot. Bend down. Looked a White. Then at the pot. The at White again. At the pot. She opened her mouth-

“ **Use. Your hands**. Pink. Don’t… **don’t** lick it.” Her senior spoke with a weary, annoyed voice. She closed her eyes to hold the bridge of her nose between her fingers. “For stars sake...” added to herself with a whisper. 

_Oh, right…_

She put her index finger in her mouth, to get some magical saliva on it.

_So basically I have to…_ Pink studied the small sprout and brought her hand towards it.

_…just touch it?_

The moment she did, the organism blew out high. It grew rapidly in a blink of an eye, reaching the size where it was bigger than Pink herself. Many stalks came out of its culm, and the ends of it were surrounded by leaves and seed-bearing structures. When it finished, there was still glitter from the powder left behind the magic, slowly falling only to disappear in the air before reaching the ground.

_Oh my stars!_

“Did you see that!?” she jumped in euphoria, smiling widely, with stars in her eyes.

“Excellent.” White said after a moment of silently watching.

She was smiling genuinely while looking down at the tiny Diamond and the organism.

Pink was proud of herself, and seeing the other happy with her performance made her feel even better. She was grinning the whole time observing and admiring her work.  
  



	37. Tests part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuation

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really wish I could add ":)" or "<3" at the end of some senteces the characters say!!!  
> (posted yesterday but uploading again because something broke)
> 
> Now, I went CRAZY with length here, so I think I deserve some feedback, hmmmm?  
> ★Read the End Notes★

Pink was proud of herself, and seeing the other happy with her performance made her feel even better. She was grinning the whole time observing and admiring her work.

“Now,” White’s voice reminded her that she needs to focus “the other part.” She pointed at the ground next to the, now full-grown, plant.

Pink eyed the place carefully. “Is there a seed in it?”

“No.”

_Oh, so something from nothing._ Was her job right now.

She wet her finger again, and dipped it inside the soil.

They both waited a couple of seconds, but nothing happened.

Pink felt her short-lived confidence slip away.

“Try more essence.”

_Okay…_ Pink pulled her finger out and brought it to her mouth again.

“ **Don’t!** ” a sudden interruption startled her “Don’t use the same finger.” White covered her face with her hand, not wanting to look at what she’s doing.

Right, there was dirt on the finger she already used.

Pink laughed nervously, and looked at her hand. She could feel the wetness inside her mouth, and knew that there was a fair amount of it.

Erratic as she was, she licked her whole open palm and put it inside the pot once again.

…

…

…

Nothing happened. Pink put her hand away to let her superior take a look too.

“Alright.” White clicked her tongue and made a motion with her fingers to summon a bubble of hers “Let’s try a more **familiar** material.”

The sphere came down and settled on an elevation, that emerged from the platform Pink was standing on. It vanished quietly and revealed its content, placing it on the improvised table.

_Shards._

Gem shards.

_One two three four, **five**_. Five shards of the same gemstone that were once a whole gem.

It was an amethyst.

Pink studied the view quickly. It wasn’t the first time she saw such a thing. Gems don’t age, which makes them seemingly immortal on that scale, but they can still get hurt and die. Death is not a subject avoided nor treated like taboo. It is simply an occurrence that takes place from time to time. It’s always a waste of course, when a gem gets shattered, but often there is just no way around it.

Pink was saddened more by the fact that she didn’t think she’d be able to do what White wants her to do now. It didn’t work with the soil. It was doubtful it would work with **this**.

“What happened to her?” she looked up at White to waste some time.

The Superior took a few seconds to think. “She wandered off to the kindergarten field against her supervisor’s orders. She fell between the cracks during the earthquake, and it broke her.”

Pink looked like she was trying to hide her head between her shoulders, which, thanks to her wide mane of hair, wasn’t working.

_…I knew it._

“I thought we weren’t going to talk about that…” she squeaked quietly.

“I figured reminding you that actions have consequences wouldn’t be a bad idea.” White eyed her meaningly.

_Gargh._

Pink walked to the table with the shards on it. “…How am I supposed to do it?” she asked, trying to change the subject.

“Put the pieces close together and lay you essence on.” White answered without missing a beat.

The youngest Diamond did as she was told. She held the broken gem in one hand to prevent it from falling apart, and licked the other, wetting it with a rich amount of saliva, to put in on top of it.   
She stroked the amethyst gemstone, making sure she gets every part of it to touch her essence. She even tried adding more a couple of times, so that now is was basically soaking.

But again. Nothing happened.

Pink sighed heavily. She didn’t want to look at her senior’s face. She didn’t want to see the disappointment in her eyes that was certainly present there.

She was still able to hear White sigh too though.

“Alright.” The shards in her hands were surrounded by a bubble, and she saw a next one approach the table “Let’s try something simpler. One more test.”

The sphere popped, revealing a gem inside. It was just one piece.

Instead of falling, the gemstone rose in the air and started shining. A white light with green edge encircled it and grew. It reached a size of a middle height gem, and disappeared, showing the specimen when she fell onto the ground.

It was an emerald. But she looked… _weird._

The gem woke up wobbly. Shock and fear clear on her face. It made it easier for Pink to study her form.

Her left leg was… nonexistent. Similarly her left arm, was greatly shrank. Other than that she was a proper individual.

It was difficult for the Emerald to keep her standing position. She kept stumbling and shaking. The situation she found herself in did not help. She was evidently surprised and scared, seeing two Diamonds staring at her as soon as she regained her consciousness.

“M- my Diamonds.” Having an abnormal arm, she failed to give a proper diamond salute. Having no leg, she lost her balance quickly and wavered.

A giant finger, ending with a sharp, shiny, black nail stopped her from falling down again. White gently held her up, so that she could maintain a standing position.

The Emerald found herself between the monarch’s index finger and thumb. She clutched onto the nail, not knowing what else to do. She was looking up questioningly at both Diamonds, fear and uncertainty clearly displayed on her face. She gritted her teeth and shivered, scared.

“Oh, don’t be afraid.” Said Pink and slowly approached her. What she and White were doing had nothing to do with bringing harm, and she wanted to let Emerald know that.

Once she came closer she saw the very target she was supposed to focus on.

“Look at her gem.” White spoke calmly.

The emerald gemstone was placed in the middle of her chest, right above where the Superior’s giant finger was. It had a pretty green colour and cut… and a **crack**.

A fracture of a gem’s life core, even if the smallest, can misshape her form, and cause great malfunction that immensely affects her propriety. As long as it doesn’t fall apart however, the gem can still stay alive.

Pink knew what she was supposed to do.

White wasn’t squeezing the Emerald. Rather just letting her use her fingers as support. Still, the gem was watching them anxiously. Her eyes jumping from one Diamond to the other. Searching for an answer, but knowing she’s not allowed to ask.

Pink closed the distance between them and put her hand up. But then stopped.

She looked up at White with the question in her eyes.

The way she’s been using her power until now hasn’t been… presentable. It was already weird enough even for the two Diamonds witnessing it, but it was definitely something that an outsider should not see.

“Close your eyes, Emerald.” Came an order from above.

Emerald shut her eyes instantly, with no intent on opening them again unless she’s been told to do so. Clearly she belonged to a higher class. Even her body seemed more composed – she knew what demeanor to take on in presence of the members of the Diamond Authority.

Pink repeated her previous actions, hesitating for a moment before putting her hand on the gemstone…

The moment her essence settled down on its surface, it started glowing. And the light was only present for a few short seconds before it spread further onto Emerald’s form. It covered her completely for a moment, but the middle of her chest still shone the brightest. The body under the glow grew on the left side, appearing where her arm and leg were supposed to be.

Just as quickly as it showed up, it disappeared. It the light’s place stood the Emerald, unmoved, with her eyes closed. Her form was now whole, with no visible defects.

And her gemstone – it was uncracked.

_It healed._ Pink thought in shock. Stars in her eyes.

_I healed it!_

She laughed happily and looked up at White.

Her core nearly exploded with excitement when she saw her superior smiling widely while looking down at her. There was warmth and gladness in her eyes, and Pink wanted to burn this sight into her memory.

It felt wonderful… to finally be able to do something **right**.

White Diamond fiddled her fingers delicately to carefully inspect the gem.

“Marvelous.” She said quietly, and only after a second did Pink realize she said it while looking at **her** , not the Emerald.

Her core filled with warmth.

Another white bubble made its way towards the desk. This one was big enough to hold a person inside. Rightfully so, since there was one coming out once it disappeared.

“Pearl,” White spoke to the gem she summoned “take this Emerald to the upper floor of the hospice department*. Find me contact information about her last assignment and come back.”

The Pearl, coloured in various shades of grey, jogtrotted towards the green gem.

White turned her around. “You may open your eyes now.”

Emerald was completely awestruck. She slowly moved all her limbs to check their ability. She looked at her gemstone and touched it gently. There were tears in her eyes when she turned back for a moment to glance at the two Diamonds again. Couldn’t find words in her mouth, didn’t know what to do, didn’t know how to say thank you… so she just let herself be pulled gently by the Pearl who took her by hands and led towards the exit.

Evidently the monarchs didn’t have time for sentiments at the moment.

“Well,” said White once they were left alone again “it looks like you can finally start collecting your essence.” She smiled with delight and using her bubbles – got rid of the pots they were using before.

Pink was jiggling from excitement. She was really proud of herself.

_Yay! Yay! Yay!_

“We’ll go once I’m done with my next court meeting.” The Superior added. She fixed her posture from leaning on the table Pink stood on, to leaning **back** on her chair comfortably, and opened her screens. “You can wait here with me.”

“Oh!” Pink jumped up in the air “Can’t I go start alone? I know where extraction chambers are!”

There was no will to leave White behind in her mind. She was simply too excited to wait. News that she can pursue her purpose and get closer to being a proper diamond were just too much to let her be patient. She always wanted to participate in collecting essence!

“No.” came a hard answer “And it’s going to be a long time before you’ll be allowed to go somewhere alone again. I presume.” Another short, meaningful look.

Pink dropped onto the ground with a pout.

_This again._

She shuffled in place. “I said I’m sorry…” rose an attempt to justify her actions and earn forgiveness.

“From what I heard, actually, you did **not**.” White said lightly. She wasn’t angry, just sounded… condescending.

_I didn’t?_ Pink began reflecting about the course of her argument with Yellow, trying to remember all the words that were spoken.

_Maybe I forgot this time…_ It actually made her feel bad. She could hardly remember why she did what she did, and reacted the way she reacted, but the image of worry and… disappointment on Yellow’s face, was clear as day in her memory.

And it hurt.

That’s how she knew now, that what she did was wrong.

She knew it. She **felt** it. But she couldn’t understand exactly… why?

“I just don’t get why is it such a big deal…” so she murmured her question very quietly.

It was loud enough for White to hear.

“Pink,” she turned to face the other “Starlight, we’re not trying to scare you. We’re trying to teach you **responsibility**.” She gently touched Pink’s gem with her finger. “It doesn’t matter how hard you are. It doesn’t matter how hard any of us are! If I tell Yellow not to go somewhere, where she **knows** there’s absolutely no danger or harm in going – she **won’t** go. She won’t go, because **I** told her **not to**.”

Pink looked up at her from under her bangs and whispered “No one told me **not to** go there.”

That was very weak defense. And she knew it before it even left her mouth.

“And I suppose all the prohibition signs on your way there were not enough?” White cocked her eyebrow.

_Ah, good point._

“What if I went there **after** the injectors were planted?”

_It wouldn’t be dangerous then. Would everyone be less angry with me?_

At this point she just wanted to continue the free conversation. Asking questions always proved to be a good way to make another Diamond explain something to her.

“Can you imagine Blue inspecting atomic engines?”

It's a task common on some of the colonies. It’s knows for being quite tiring, as the air around them is hot and thick, which makes it difficult to see. Worst part of it is that it’s very dirty. The hot mud and ash are sometimes impossible to get rid of.

“No.” a very positive answer.

“Exactly. It doesn’t belong to her duties. Nor is it anywhere near her department. Why would she go so far away from her purpose, and take on someone else’s?”

Pink was now fully ensured about the image of her behaviour. What she did made no sense, and even **she** couldn’t find any good excuse for it.

What bothered her the most, is that she didn’t say sorry…

_I guess I let my anger take the lead…_

“I’ll apologize to Yellow when she comes back.” She stated confidently.

“That will take some time. She’s going on war for us, remember?”

That made Pink’s nonexistent heart drop in an instant. She never liked the vision of war when she learned history. Even though the gemkind never met any species that could hold a candle to their strength, war meant that the leader on their side (which was usually Yellow) wasn’t able to come back home for a long time. Simply because of the number of enemies, or the difficulties they cause, or the rebels and their sabotages, or the universe even! Pink remembered many different factors about which she learned, the universe one describing asteroids and meteor showers that can take place during a war.

She was also quite anxious. A war is never a good thing and it was always related to loss of some sort – even if it’s just time. And the last time she saw Yellow in person they argued…

She suddenly felt a touch. White’s hand silently made its way towards her side to connect. The finger of her thumb reached under Pink’s chin and moved, lifting her head up from being glued to her chest.

“Don’t be upset.” Those eyes could blind someone who wasn’t already used to them. “You’ll talk to her on the diamond line.” She smiled.

Pink returned the gesture happily.

“I’ll also tell her that you healed one of her valuable emeralds.”

The young Diamond felt her warmth come back to her core. Her mood improved once again.

She chuckled and embraced part of White’s hand. Holding tight and hiding her head close to the other’s form, letting a giant finger stroke down her hair.

Because of such a huge difference between their sizes, it was one of the closest ways the two of them could hug.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1*) hospice department - in gem terms it's a place for gems physically damaged, but not shattered. The lowest floor is for specimens so unstable that they're kept in bubbles. The higher - the better their condition. That's where the Emerald spent her days since she was injured (although she wasn't on the lowest level). She's going back there now to collect her information.  
> There's a lot of such places, and they're HUGE.
> 
> ★★★  
> I recently realized that initially I planned on this fanfic to be mostly about Bellow, but somehow it came to the point where it's about the WHOLE Diamond family drama/love, WHILE also shipping Bellow.  
> ...oh well.  
> I hope you don't mind? o.o  
> ★★★


	38. 3/4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Backstage of the war.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry I haven't posted last week. Seasonal depression is a tough one... Nasty reason of my artblock.
> 
> But, I finally made myself an instagram account!  
> I post my arts/fanarts there, so go ahead and follow me: edithvanhopper ;)

Her eyes have been glued to the white screen for a good cycle now. Various statistics of data flowing through it rapidly, while both blue and silver sights were studying every number and letter.

Blue was sitting on the elevated accommodation inside her pool, half of her form submerged in the water, and White comfortably placed herself next to her, on the edge of the reservoir, having only her legs below the surface. They were carefully watching the feed that was coming from the army’s whereabouts. Or rather – Yellow Diamond’s whereabouts.

The only noise in the chamber at this moment was Pink’s splashing in the middle of the pool. She was swimming and basically playing by herself, being obviously excited about the activity of collecting diamond essence, which was flowing in the water and glowing in three different colours that remained unmixed. Her tiny hands were moving it from one place to the other, forming weird, uneven patterns in white, blue and pink. She held one colour in a cup of her hands, and placed it in the middle of a puddle of another. She repeated this a couple of times, clearly enjoying herself with this silly activity.

_Well, at least she’s busy with something._ Blue thought.

For a few years now, Yellow has been away. They were currently at war with a certain species owning a planet they wanted to colonize.

They didn’t actually care about it, until those beings attacked them first – which was, clearly a big mistake – so they settled on taking the planet away from them.

Those species, commonly called alienings*, were undoubtedly life forms lower than them. Not only by size, but primarily by intelligence.

Their level of course wasn’t at zero, but if they didn’t know they shouldn’t attack an unknown fleet of spaceships belonging to a Diamond Authority – then they were pretty close to it.

The Diamonds have met semi-intelligent and intelligent species a couple of times before. They never belonged to the same empire, nor did any of them knew about each other’s existence, and yet – they were quite similar.

Those similarities were however obvious and expected, because that’s what tells them apart from basic animals. Gems have those too: straight posture while walking or at rest; having four limbs, two of them supporting and designed to touch the ground, the upper two made for highly complicated movements; opposable thumbs; extensive speech; the ability to calculate, think logically and forcibly illogically; large-scale cooperation; various, complicated emotions, et cetera…

Those were the most basic features by which such beings could be distinguished.

However, even if they met all of them – they still couldn’t be compared to the gem kind.

Their levels are simply too high. Too supreme.

Partly the main reason for this difference might be the fact that gems aren’t organic. Their bodies, unlike alienings’, aren’t made of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen and calcium, which forms ‘flesh’. Gems’ form is made of light. It doesn’t age, it doesn’t wither. It doesn’t need any nutrients to stay alive. – all of those automatically make other life forms **weak**.

Not to mention gem’s magical abilities. Truly their whole existence is based on magic – supernatural power over natural forces and abilities not possible to be described by basic science.

Basic science, as in, mathematics, chemistry, physics and others. There is another, different scientific field which focuses on the use of magic, light, and all in all gem’s life, but that is a branch existing only for gems, and it’s mostly based on experience and experiments.

Now, although some species are called ‘intelligent’, they aren’t really. Or at least – not enough. This feature describes them only as fairly different from animals.

This label only meant that they will be a bother to deal with while colonizing a planet.

And the Diamonds were living it right now. Not only Yellow, (although she probably had the most in her hands), but the rest of them too. White was constantly supplementing the army with more troops, Blue was taking care of her counterpart’s colonies (halfly though, because Yellow wasn’t completely unavailable and she still had almost everything under her control). Both of them were spending most of their time watching the feed of thousands of reports coming through the database. Every statement from every gem on the battlefield. They wanted to make sure, that everything is alright.

Why?

Those species were not, by any means, dangerous to a gem. Even a single ruby could probably kill at least five of those specimens singlehandedly. The problem was, that those alienings skipped a few steps in their development, and jumped straight to building weapons, which blasts have a radius of ten thousand square kilometers.

Now, the army (Yellow Diamond) knew exactly how to deal with that. The strategies and plans were already in motion. What concerned Blue and White though, was the General herself, since they knew that she can be a little… enthusiastic and too confident.

This impression, as far as they knew was something common only in their inner circle. And it was for them to… worry.

“Cough, c-cough!”

They both looked up from the monitor, eyeing Pink floating nearby, choking and loudly clearing her throat. White, upon seeing that nothing important happened, quickly turned back to her screens.

“Don’t tell me.” Blue frowned slightly at the small gem “Did you swallow some?” she studied the water mixed with their essence surrounding Pink. Nothing serious, but certainly not something that felt good.

The youngest Diamond looked at her with an expressionless face, her mouth forming a short, straight line. “No.”

_That didn’t sound very convincing._ Blue thought, but said nothing. Just sighed and shook her head.

As far as she knew, Pink was the last Diamond to talk with Yellow before the army assembled and left. White was only nearby when the youngest called the General to apologize for one of her antics. Blue didn’t even remember which one, but from what she heard it went well. It loosened up the atmosphere a little.

The sudden interruption made her train of thoughts slightly turn Pink Diamond’s way.

It was more than apparent now that Pink can not be taught everything. Even the things she should know initially, the data within her core – was very difficult for her to master.

_Maybe she doesn’t need all the basics?_ Maybe they could just limit what she’s supposed to do as a diamond, to only the most important duties? They could handle the rest of it themselves. Part of it probably could be even handed over to elite gems under their rulage, that would play the role of members of the pink court.

Blue’s eyes wandered off from White’s monitor. She shifted in place to look at the reservoir, lost in thought.

“Pink?” she asked quietly. She couldn’t spot the beloved, tiny gem, who probably disappeared somewhere below the surface.

She tapped White’s tight, which she was very close to, to get her attention. Maybe the Superior saw with a corner of her eye, where their youngest dived.

“She’s on my foot.” The highest monarch said without looking up from her display.

The diplomat’s hands went off to lay on the other’s knee, which was the lowest part of her legs above the surface, and without loosing the contact she gently stroked down her form. She didn’t even notice how White’s body momentarily tensed at the sudden sensation.

She pulled out a small, pink gem who was now soaking from the wetness, and placed it in her other palm.

“Alright. You’re finished.” She said.

_Pink produced enough essence for now_. She pulled her out because she got the feeling they’ll be leaving the cambers soon.

Her mind however still was focused on the feed they were watching. It didn’t give them much. It wasn’t very helpful. But it was all they had.

Assisting Yellow in a war would be simply an overkill. She’s perfectly capable of managing herself.

They why are they concerned?

_Hmm…_

_Maybe it’s not worry. Maybe we just miss her…_

“Oh, she’ll be fine.” Pink’s sudden interjection made them look up from the screen again. “And she’ll come back soon.” She waved her hand.

“Mm, and how do you know that?” Blue asked.

“Because she told me!” Pink smiled at the two pairs of eyes staring at her “We’re going to go to her colony, um, TA-204… I think. She said she’ll show me plants that are taller than us! I mean- taller than you!” she pointed at White with a joyous smile, and sat calmly in Blue’s hand that was still holding her.

“She promised me.” Pink added.

Blue wasn’t paying attention to her superior’s expression, but she herself returned the gesture. It was a small, weak reassurance… but it was something.

“Well, if she promised, I’m sure she’ll keep her word.” She turned to face White.

The sheer intensity of her aura made silver eyes meet blue. White stared at her for a few short moments, before she finally smiled too.   
  
  
  
  
  
#unrelated to the story but related to the Diamonds and we all love them so I have no guilt about self-promoting here.  
Follow me on Instagram/Tumblr/Deviantart: edithvanhopper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1*) alienings - alien+earthlings/younglings. Earthlings becasue most of them are organic, and need to live on a planet that is build just like our Earth, even if it's not called Earth. Younglings because they all are younger than most gems, and won't live long enough to change it.
> 
> The alienings mentioned in this chapter ARE NOT humans.


	39. A Walk, part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If I remember correctly, you like it when Blue flirts with Yellow, and Yellow is too DENSE to realize it? :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I'm not posting regularly lately. Kinda struggling to keep up with everything. But no worries ;) I hope everything will settle down a little by the end of the month and I'll be able to post more <3
> 
> IMPORTANT TO KNOW: I'm going to have to speed up some of the events. If I was going to write about every single encounter the Diamonds have, or every one of Pink's antics, then this story would never end. Not that I'm in a hurry to end it, no! (This thing ain't ending soon.) I simply have A LOT of ideas ahead of me, regarding this story, and the continuation of it, and we haven't even gotten to the canon timeline yet!!!  
> In short: Yellow won the war. Moving on...
> 
>   
> Also about the previous chapter: as you probably already know, I'm trying my best to keep everything as close to canon as possible. I don't know if it was confirmed outside of the show whether or not humans were the first representants of intelligent life the Diamonds met, but Im keeping myself closer to: what's shown in the show=canon. If it's outside - not necessarily, although I may use it if I want to ;)  
> My main reasoning is that: Pink was clearly less skilled than the other Diamonds and if humans on Earth were the first intelligent beings they met - they wouldn't let her have it as a colony.

Such a pretty, sunny day. Calm weather – perfect for planting injectors. Almost no wind. Little humidity. Fairly warm. Perfect day for everyone to work – whatever their job is. There was no obstacles from outside, and that is not a common occurrence. It would be so easy to get things done…

And yet, instead of taking advantage of this time, somehow Yellow found herself away from the comfort of her base. Now she was surrounded by either giant, or tiny plants, forming forests and leas, together with an accompaniment of other representants of organic life.

Many various shapes and colours. Specimens in different consistencies: from rock-hard, through soft jelly, to shapeless liquids. Although it was fairly quiet, she could still hear hundred noises coming from the closest area and further away, all devoid of harmony.

It’s not that it was… disgusting.

It’s not that it was ugly.

It was just…

“Pink, I said stay close!” Blue’s voice added the only sound that could be described as melody to the air around them.

Of course, Yellow wasn’t here alone.

Pink was the main reason she and her counterpart took the time and went out of their way, to let her ‘explore’ organic life she was so fascinated about – for whatever reason. Of all the things she was giving the other Diamonds the hard time about, this one was the most annoying. Probably because it wasn’t natural.

Pink wants to fly a spaceship? Absolutely not, but maybe someday. It would in fact be a useful skill, but she needs to learn the basics first. Not to add that she doesn’t need it for now.

Pink wants to take part in trials? Fine. They let her a few times already. After every single one they heard complaints about how boring or complicated it was. **And yet** – Pink was still groaning about wanting to take part in them. _Alright. Just don’t disturb_.

Pink wants to command their gems? No. But she has her own to rule around. If she learns how to properly manage what she already has, only then they’ll give her more.

All of those make sense for her to want. A little bit at least. She’s not ready for most, but technically those are things a diamond could be interested in.

Organic creatures however. That was simply weird. Pink didn’t care about the science part of it, which Yellow tried to teach her. She just wanted to get close to them, touch them, fiddle their forms… She didn’t care to learn about them, nor to care **for** them. And most of her curiosity was most likely the effect of her **lack of knowledge** about them. The Diamonds were however too tired from listening to those constant requests and questions, so they had to choose the easiest one to give the youngest. And well… going for a walk outside did the least damage. Letting her waltz through some plants from time to time was not a bad deal for a couple hours of peace after they come back.

“Ugh.” Blue grunted with annoyance. She was walking close to Yellow, because she simply despised organic life forms on their path touching her.

While Yellow’s attitude towards them was fairly indifferent, Blue’s was the opposite of Pink’s. The Diplomat hated, oh, **hated** the possibility of getting in contact with any. Especially animals. Plants, as long as they were unmoving and non-predatory, could get away with existing in front of her. But she was easily disgusted by the idea of any moving, crawling, running or flying organic creatures being too close to her. The repulsion she felt made her flinch or sometimes even squeak in surprise when something unwelcome touched her. And even though Yellow sympathized with her counterpart, she couldn’t help but feel amused by the reaction, and consider it adorable.

They were walking at a very slow pace, occasionally stopping for a moment to wait for Pink, who was walking a little further from them. Two older Diamonds choose to take something that resembled a path, letting them avoid pushing through the thicket, while their youngest was inconsiderately trampling the plants on her way. The whole area wasn’t actually lush in vegetation. There were many places with no trees at all, and the overall density of this filed would be rather considered small. But, for someone of diamond’s size (well, **regular** diamond’s size), it was still a bother.

Yellow took a stop once again, this time observing Pink as she began looking for something in the grass. Blue joined her without a word, gladly accepting the General as the leader of the tour who decides where they go, and who sets the pace. The Diplomat was herself watching nearby plants, from which flowers were her most interest, but she decided to limit this experience only to a visual one.

From time to time she pulled out her communicator, to check a few messages or send orders, but overall she seemed to be at peace during their little walk.

They didn’t have to walk with Pink together, only one of them could’ve gone. But Blue insisted strongly for Yellow to come, and so there they were in three.

“What are we doing…” Yellow suddenly whispered, as if to herself, but her counterpart heard it nevertheless.

Blue looked at the other and noticed that the General hadn’t stopped watching Pink even for a second. The small gem was picking flowers in the clearing nearby, but not close enough to be able to hear them talk softly.

“What do you mean?”

Yellow took a moment to answer, her eyes fixated on their youngest “What are we doing, Blue?”

The other didn’t know how to respond, taken aback by the question.

“Why are we here?”

_It's just…_

She was lost in thought. Hardly able to voice what she had in mind. She could still feel the worry Blue started to look at her in.

“Why doesn’t she want to learn?” Yellow asked, not really expecting to be given an answer. “Of all the things she asks us for, why do we go with this one?”

The azure Diamond took her arm in hand, holding it right above the wrist. Physical contact played a significant role in communication – they realized it when they were yet young.

“We give in to all of them.”

_More like we give in to **her**. _

“This one simply seems to be… the easiest.” Blue said after looking around herself “During this time at least we have some privacy.”

Truth be told. During their walks they required no entourage. This way Pink was able to behave… like herself – freely… silly, and Blue and Yellow had a moment to take a break from the constant company. At first the only reason they took walks with Pink was to keep her safe, as there are terrains she’s unfamiliar with, and animals that are bigger than her. They were there to make sure she doesn’t get hurt or lost. Even though the first one technically wasn’t very important now that they found out she has healing powers, they still felt uncomfortable with accepting it as a reason to put her at any risk. Them simply being with her was enough to ensure her wellbeing though, as most of the animals, especially the big ones, hurriedly flee the moment they sense the giant monarch’s presence.

Yellow, although she understood Blue’s point, didn’t see it as a vital one. Pink appears to gain nothing from these walks, nor from their company. It would be appropriate to find a way that keeps her safely occupied, but at the same time doesn’t waste her seniors’ time. To find, or **create** a place for her, where she can have as many harmless organics as she wants to play with, without the need to be supervised by other Diamonds.

“Also,” Blue continued “she seems happy.” And gave the General a smile she was barely able to sense, since she kept looking Pink’s way.

The small gem picked up a creature from the ground, that was roughly the size of her tiny arm, shaped like a thick pipe and had a turquoise colour. It squeaked when Pink squeezed it putting too much pressure on its body. She grimaced in surprise and threw the animal away, not caring even a tiny little bit where it falls.

_This is…_

“So am I, actually.” The Diplomat added shyly after a short pause. Yellow could hear her hand raise up to brush away a few strands of hair that got lost on the pale blue face. Then Blue came a little closer, letting the form of her dress flutter lightly on the other’s hip, and put her hand on the rigid shoulder. “We haven’t gotten many opportunities to spend time together recently.” She said with a voice that was almost a whisper, looking at the General’s face with an intense stare, but Yellow stubbornly remained unmoved.

_It's just…_

Pink plucked a handful of leaves growing from a nearby bush. She opened her palm to inspect the torn petals, but once she saw something inside her hand she flinched, with a tremendous disgust displayed on her face and started shaking it, as if in an attempt to get it off as quickly as possible.

Yellow’s first guess was that she squished a worm, and was severely revolted by its insides.

_Pointless._

Organic life – it is pointless.

Pink’s behaviour - gives her nothing. It gives the empire nothing.

And Yellow had better things to do. She was helping White with the construction supporting the core of Homeworld – it was an ongoing issue. There were two batches of new gems almost ready to emerge, which she had to supervise. There were just… so many things…

Her train of thoughts was being slightly disturbed by a presence next to her. She could feel the spirit of Blue’s aura circling dangerously near her own, most likely trying to provoke a connection, so that Blue’s thoughts could hear hers. The azure Diamond was standing very close, almost leaning on the General with her face nearly touching her shoulder.

“Stop it.” Yellow said quietly and for the first time met the other’s eye. She didn’t want diamond powers to play with her mind right now, especially if they come from someone like her counterpart.

Blue withdrew with a sad, disappointed look on her face. “Stop- stop what?”

 _You know what._ Yellow thought, even though the other’s expression said otherwise.

Her eyes studied the scenery in front of them once again. Stopping at the sky for a longer moment, they let her realize that the pretty part of this day is going to end very soon. She sighed, half in realization, half in the feeling of relief.

“We should head back. It’s going to rain.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second part planned to be even "better" :) Gonna post it this Friday or Saturday.
> 
> I'm going to squeeze this story dry from everything sweet and nice and fluffy and love  
> ...before we'll have to get to the depressive stuff.


	40. A Walk, part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I love you.

“We should head back. It’s going to rain.”

“Oh. Let her have a moment longer.” Blue said quietly, her hands and sight retreated, but she was still standing close.

“Hmh.”

Yellow briefly studied the clouds to evaluate how much time it’s going to be before it starts to pour water from the sky. Her eyes stopped on Pink once again, who was struggling to free herself from a couple of elastic branches of the nearby red tree, that she got stuck in. It was silly, and she certainly didn’t need any help. The General knew that and she was considering calling her to come back, but she heard a weak grunt of her counterpart, that was a subtle, but clear sign to get her attention.

“…What’s the situation on the Phantom Warship you’ve mentioned?” she asked.

There was indeed such subject brought up. Yellow Diamond has a couple of spaceships that are far greater in use in battle than the rest. It wouldn’t be a lie to say they’re even bigger and more durable than her own, personal arm-ship, but she doesn’t use them as often because of… representation reasons. Also the fact that White Diamond herself prefers her junior to move and travel while maintaining proper appearance.

On one of those ships there has been some trouble caused by the crew. And because the crew consists of more than a thousand gems (those ships are **big,** and if necessary – they can hold even more), it had to be something that reached the level of becoming a Diamond’s concern. Namely – two groups have formed from some of the members, counting a couple dozen each, who have been fighting each other for some reason (or at least Yellow didn’t mention it in the conversation before). Not that the reason mattered anyway. It’s been simply one of the General’s jobs to assign multiple gems uninvolved to resolve the issue, to keep those groups apart, and to obtain those that have been injured, or even their shards. Truly nothing more than a bother, a waste of time, both for her, and for the crew.

“It’s stable.” Came a short response.

“How many gems have been shattered?”

“Seventeen.”

“Eh…” Blue huffed in an angered tone. Then her hands wandered up, one stopping on her upper arm, second resting on Yellow’s shoulder, both giving only the lightest touch, but heavy enough to be felt. Now her whole form turned her counterpart’s way. “I wish there was something I could do to help you… with this and everythi-“

“There’s really nothing any of us can do to make it magically disappear.”

“Oh, did you go there to face them yourself?”

“I did, yes.”

“And it didn’t help?”

“It did while I was actually onboard or in proximity. Suddenly there were no fights and everyone was in peace,” Yellow grabbed the bridge of her nose “but once I left they started at it again.”

“Ugh, those deviants, really…” Blue sounded her displeasure at the thought of these misbehaving gems. It was amazing how her demeanor can change so quickly, back to the one she shows to the public – cold and ferocious. Usually she drops that one when there are only Diamonds around.

“ **I** should go there. My ways would definitely call them to order.” She smiled mischievously.

Blue Diamond had little patience when it comes to things she deems trivial. That including gems who turn against the authority or simply behave out of line. It fits her cut* though, since her official role is law and rule enforcement. It made many of their subjects justifiably fearful, even though they don’t need to be afraid as long as they don’t have something on their conscience. She’s very quick to end a dispute in a snap. Many of her higher standing gems take after their owner in that matter.

Yellow however, being one of not many persons who have immunity over that, thought her counterpart’s reactions were somewhat adorable. She most likely got that impression because she was never the ‘recipient’ of her judgment, and knew she never would be. Blue Diamond wasn’t scary to her, even when she was most furious.

This time too. The fact that Blue brought up an idea of violence from her side, aiming at a matter so small, just to make a fellow Diamond feel better, was a subtle form of humour they shared. She wasn’t actually going to attempt a killing spree, obviously. An exaggeration like such was simply an expression of delicate satire, which was one of Blue’s favourites. 

It was… _endearing_.

But this thought came through Yellow’s head too quickly to let her word the appreciation.

“Not that your ways are any less-“ Blue started hurriedly once she realized that her statement might’ve insinuated something.

“No, I understand.” Yellow smiled lightly, reassuring the other “I don’t think it would work either, though. It’s not like they are rebelling against **us**. They’re just… battling each other for some reason.”

“What reason?”

“I… don’t even remember” she massaged her temples “I sent a dozen jaspers and a few commanders. They’re going to keep them apart and throw the loudest ones in cells.”

Blue contributed to the end of this topic with a soft hum.

It looked like she was going to say something more, but Yellow accidentally interrupted her “Pink!” she got the small gem’s (who was recklessly spreading her essence on nearby plants to make them grow bigger) attention on herself “Come now, we’re going back.”

“I’ve been thinking.” Blue started as they both watched Pink slowly trotting their way “…maybe she’s so persistent about this activities, because she likes being with us outside of our entourage?”

Yellow looked at her eyebrows crooked “What do you mean?”

“It’s no secret that we are all more comfortable in each other’s presence, especially in private.”

“That has nothing to do with our competence.” Yellow responded quietly, watching her tone to be very soft so that the pink gem approaching them wouldn’t hear. “It shouldn’t be important.”

“Yes, but she’s still young. I remember when I was new, I was still a little hesitant about everything.” Blue tilted her head and fluttered the eyelashes around her big, oval eyes. “It always made me feel better when you were around for example.”

 _This makes no sense._ Pink is around them vast majority of her life, she is very rarely left without another Diamond, so it’s not like she could experience any kind of deficiency in a familiar presence.

Also-

“Why?” Yellow asked. She had a hard time remembering the past so far away. It was difficult to recall how things looked like before Pink appeared, and it was nearly impossible for her to think of the times before Blue.

Her counterpart chuckled “Because I liked you~” and smiled warmly. Her hand brushed against Yellow’s “I still do.”

The expression on the General’s face was clearly very amusing to her. As usual when Blue took on this… weird way of talking, she was met with confusion.

“I-“

A sudden presence of a tiny gem on her shoulder cut her off.

“I like you too, Yellow!” Pink said loudly.

Two of her seniors didn’t even notice when she jumped on the yellow shoulder, but her landing was very difficult to miss.

They both smiled, although Blue’s expression delicately displayed disappointment.

Yellow has kept an eye on Pink for long enough though, to be sure that she heard only the last part of their conversation.

“Thanks. Let’s go back now, it’s going to rain.” She said and started walking back where they came from, towards the inhabited and more frequented area near the construction site of the city on this colony.

“And do you like meee?” Pink asked sweetly.

Somewhat Yellow thought the young gem’s way of fawning over her resembled Blue’s behaviour sometimes.

“I love you.” She answered without missing a beat.

_Huh…_

It actually surprised her herself how easily she worded this answer. Without even a second thought…

Pink blushed furiously. Clearly she wasn’t expecting this either. She sat down on the armored shoulder and looked up shyly after a longer moment:

“I love you too.”

Yellow managed to look at her with a corner of her eye, and they smiled to each other warmly, with Pink’s blush still visible.

“Ekhem…” they heard a quiet, but firm voice “What about me?”

Blue stared at them both expectantly.

“Weeeell…” Pink started with a very hesitant, uncertain voice.

That made Yellow simply burst out with laughter.

“Huh. Alright.” Blue faked her anger.

“No, Blue! I’m joking!” Pink tried to save the situation, but she also couldn’t stop herself from laughing. That joke was a bad idea… “It wasn’t funny, I’m sorry!”

Yellow kept on laughing. And she had a loud, healthy laughter.

Pink grasped the shoulder she was sitting on, not wanting to fall while it was jumping up and down so rapidly.

“I love you too!”

Blue only chuckled in response.

After a while of reassuring the small gem that everything’s fine, Yellow eventually calmed down too.

“How do you know it’s going to rain?” Pink asked.

“Science.” Came a short answer. “That same one you refuse to learn.”

“Don’t you have other gems to know that stuff?” The youngest diamond worded her impression that they don’t have to have those ‘skills’, if there is someone else specifically made to use them.

“I don’t particularly fancy being less educated than my subordinates.” Shut down just like that.

Yellow learned very quickly to mirror the way Pink questions almost everything she’s told. The small gem assimilates short and clear answers easier. Even if they might sound a little harsh sometimes… they’ve proven to bring most effects.

Not to mention that the Diamonds don’t need to educate themselves on any matter. Not initially at least… They’re born with more knowledge than every average gem, and their subordinates learn **from** them. Pink however, as it’s been already established, was an exception.

“I wouldn’t mind if I had any subordinates.” She laid on her back comfortably, somehow capable of keeping balance on her senior’s shoulder. “And I’d have them if you gave me a colony.”

That was met with nothing but silence.

Pink grunted “Why can’t I have one?”

“Because you don’t know where rain comes from.” Said Yellow.

A sudden touch of Blue’s hand in her own brought her a little closer to reality. She exchanged a look with her counterpart.

 _Too harsh?_

“Eh…” Yellow sighed and raised her hand to hold Pink in it, so that she could actually face the other. “I’m sorry, Pink. You keep asking us about it, but… you already know why… right?” she asked sadly.

The tiny Diamond dropped her head, right after the look on her face lost its joyful glow.

She knew…

“Yeah…”

The silence they were walking in slowly started to vanish, being replaced by a soft pitter-patter of droplets coming from the sky.

“Pink,” Blue summoned her vail shortly after the rain started, and now she extended one of its sides near the loop of hair on her chest “want to hide?” she smiled invitingly.

“Ah, no, I’m fine.” Pink jumped from Yellow’s hands on her shoulder again. She started looking up in the sky, weirded out, but curious.

It was a planet full of organic life, so the rain here was just water. One of the non-dangerous and least unpleasant substances.

When it increased however, that was when Pink decided it was unpleasant after all. Her thick mane of hair was now extremely heavy with wetness, and she was barely able to see anything with her bangs getting into her eyes. It was pouring heavily.

“Actually. I changed my mind.” And she jumped onto the other Diamond, quickly hiding under the vail, seating herself in the offered hair loop. “Yellooooow!” she yelled to be heard on the background of heavy rainfall “Wanna hide too?”

Blue laughed cordially “Yes, Yellow,” she opened her vail to extend it even more “care to join us?”

A set of big azure, and tiny pink eyes stared at her for a moment when she considered the offer.

“No, thank you.”

She and her form had no problem enduring any kind of weather.

After some time they finally got back to the diamond base. The rain was still relentless. Most gems from outside hid under the structures and buildings.

Pink jumped off and threw herself running down the hallway, towards the control room. “Can I lift the deck?”

“No.” Yellow answered as she followed her, but with no rush. Even though Pink already disappeared in one of the chambers (she was fast for her size), she wouldn’t be able to manage the panel without her senior.

“You never told **me** that.” Stopped her a soft voice from behind.

“What?” Yellow turned around.

“That you loved me.” Blue took off her vail and dissolved it into nothing. She gave her counterpart a curious, but strangely unreadable look.

“I thought it was implied.” Answered the General right before she called her Pearl from the other room, and walked towards the control chamber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey kids,  
> what do you want for Christmas??


	41. Giftie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Joint operation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't written such a long chapter in a while...
> 
> but trust me  
> it's worth reading ;)

“What kind of assignment is it again?”

A group of gems strode through the hallways in a hurry.

It was a very… unusual party. Consisting of a peridot, two amethysts, bismuth, azurite and violet labradorite – a composition which made absolutely no sense. Those gem types had no particular connection with each other, and rarely worked together unless it was necessary. This time however, the gems were joined in a unit, because of the one common trait they all had, aside from being made for Blue Diamond – they were… less than ideal (to call it lightly). Some of them came out slightly faulty, the rest started displaying their flaws already after being given a position. Either way, they weren’t fully appropriate to work on their purpose.

But their defects weren’t considered as severe. Quite the contrary – they were small and sometimes even unnoticeable. Still, it was easier, and safer for everyone for them to be under supervision. And the most effective way of enabling that was to keep them together.

There were actually many groups of this kind, from all courts. Not every gem fits where it should belong, but the Authority couldn’t just disregard them, or get rid of them for such trivial reasons. That’s why these gems were officially allowed to function and work, but simply on things not too important and usually differing from what they were originally supposed to be doing.

At the beginning of the group walked Amber Agate, a manager who was put in charge of a few groups, including this one, about seven thousand years ago. Because of her unusual colour, she belonged to yellow court. Her hue actually wasn’t faulty, it was simply rare, because Yellow Diamond usually doesn’t create agates, while Blue Diamond favours them in shades of blue. The latter however decided to create this particular one resembling her counterpart’s court members more, so she could’ve later present it to her as a gift.

Which was done. The Agate presented herself proudly, and she was taken in right away. She was a fully appropriate gem, and her extraordinary feature gave her a lot of advantage among court members. She quickly got the higher positions, eventually becoming an elite manager and a head of gem resources in no time.

Most of the gems usually used to look at her with awe, being surprised and curious about her gem type. Needless to say, it gave her a confidence boost of a millenia. There were times however, when her colour brought nothing but pain. Even though Amber Agate was a high class individual, there were still a lot of gems who were above her, or at least on the same level. And they were ruthless… Not all of them of course, but just enough to feel it in her core. Some gems liked to establish their dominance in the field by worst ways possible in public. The reason behind it wasn’t even her colour… It was the fact that she was given to a Diamond as a present. And it was a great target for some gems to throw their insults, bully and mock her. Worst part of it was a nickname spread among the higher ups – ‘Giftie’.

Even though Amber Agate never showed any emotional reaction towards these acts other than indifferency, they always hurt her greatly. It hurt her so much because she was proud of how she was made and what for. She never forgot the way in which her gemstone nearly burst out in euphoria when Yellow Diamond smiled her way and thanked Blue Diamond for enriching her court with such an _interesting_ specimen. It truly was one of the happiest ways a gem’s life could start.

Amber Agate was not one to spare discipline. It was part of her duties to treat insubordinate gems with her chain whip that ends with a baton full of thorns. But she couldn’t use it on those of higher level. These and their behaviour had to be endured, and only if lucky – ignored.

This group she’s been in charge of for the past few thousand years, consisted of gems truly… strange. Never once did they try to insult her, and frankly, even though their status differed greatly – they related to her as one of them. They were friendly and that was already a surprise for the Agate, because she knew she was **not** a very pleasant person. She couldn’t quite understand them, perhaps because they belonged to a different court, but she got used to it after a while.

“Joint operation. The issue is on the lower eastern terrace.” Amber Agate snarled. As friendly these gems were, they were also extremely annoying. She’s explained it to them three times already.

“Cool.” said Azurite. She had a very deep blue colour and was the same height as Bismuth, but her form was skinnier.

“Remember the last time?” started one of the smiling Amethysts “When that ruby caught on fire?”

“She didn’t **catch** on fire.” spoke Peridot. She was a tall, slim gem specializing in technology and electricity. “She just **burst out** with flames.” There was a smirk visible on her light green face.

Bismuth laughed “Yeah, I remember. You really got under her gem*,” She poked the Amethyst with her elbow jokingly.

They both snickered.

“Where are we going actually?” asked Peridot as she looked around the unfamiliar corridor they were passing.

Amber Agate strongly considered smacking someone. “Eastern terrace. I told you already.”

“Yes, but which building?”

_We just passed the silver quarters, there’s only one building ahead of us I swear I will lose it if you keep asking._

“Main Engineer Center.” Said the manager angrily.

“We passed a two way bridge some time ago.” said Azurite “We could try sliding from it on the way back.”

“ **After my dead shards you will**.” Growled Amber Agate as she clutched the gemstone beneath her stomach – in the middle of her belt, to show the group exactly what she meant.

The only thing it managed to do was silence the subject. Truly, only this group of gems never, ever showed Amber any fear of her person. They spoke to her as if they were friends. They weren’t scared of her, even when she punishes them. Those things already could be considered outrageous and disrespectful. But for some reason… Amber couldn’t help but feel that they actually **do** respect her. She just couldn’t quite put her finger on why do they behave this way.

At least the one, and frankly the most important thing they were good at _– thank the stars_ – was following orders. They always listened to her official commands.

“Hey, Amber?” one of the Amethysts spoke “Will we get to exchange and transfer the data like the last time?”

 _That was literally illegal what you did._ Agate thought angrily. _You’re not supposed to befriend the other group. Just do your job and leave._

“Absolutely not.”

 _They know exactly what they’re doing._ Trying to annoy Amber seemed to be quite an entertainment. Even though they were all aware of the threat of her whip – they didn’t care.

“Is it a real deal,” said Bismuth “or do they just need us to fill empty spaces?”

“It is a real deal!” Amber growled stopping in the middle of the hallway “You guys want to keep testing me!?” she grabbed her gemstone again “Who else has a **stupid** question for me?”

A moment of silence came after the group stopped. They looked at Amber calmly, but with no fear. Her outburst managed to at least make them realize they should cut it out.

“Which court’s group are we joining?” asked Violet Labradorite quietly. She was definitely the biggest gem in the group, and she talked very rarely. A soft-spoken form of strength and hardness. Agate was convinced these gems were blue court’s version of topazes.

Despite the anger she displayed a moment ago, Amber swallowed a shout. Violet Labradorite was the least annoying person of them. Probably because she hardly ever talks. A gentle giant is what one could call her. She never makes fun of anything and doesn’t tell jokes. Even if she laughs at them or joins others in glee, she’s never the original culprit, nor the author of any antics.

Agate turned around and resumed walking again, being followed by the rest. “White.”

It didn’t take much longer before they reached the entrance of the building, and quickly turned around the corner, where was another group of gems already waiting.

Amber recognized their leader right away. A slim, very tall gem with broad shoulders and long hair. Her colour the most pure – white, so clean that in some places it seemed like her form was transparent. Occasionally accented with grey, like her boots that reached above her knees.

 _Adularia._ Agate suddenly became nervous. It was one of the most rare gems the Diamonds create. Even rarer than sapphires. They always belong to highest elites. Amber didn’t know how many there are for sure, but from what she heard they all belong to White Diamond.

She’s never met an adularia gem before. As a safety measure she prepared herself for defense against the other’s reaction on her colour.

“You’re here.” a loud, confident voice echoed between the walls as Adularia spoke.

Amber closed the distance, the group behind her silent. She opened her mouth to say her own, but Adularia didn’t give her time to do so: “I have another appointment on the other side of the building.

Do you mind handling them on your own?” 

“Of course.” said Amber confidently. It surprised her that this gem showed no recognition of her colour, but it was a pleasant surprise. Who knows what an elite gem could say to ruin her day and embarrass her in front of her party…

She shot a glance at Adularia while she walked away, before clicking her boots loudly to get all the gems attention.

“Let’s go.”

She led them through the gate that was a side entrance to the terrace. It was a big, open platform with no ceiling or a side wall, giving a beautiful view of Homeworld’s landscape, as they were very high above the ground.

They all knew what their job is. The machinery below the floor was now lifted so they can fix faulty features. It was huge, nearly the size of the whole terrace itself. But those two groups were balanced just right, to have no problem dealing with it. They had gems of strength, gems of technology, gems of knowledge, gems of building abilities and gems of attention to detail [and one gem could belong to more groups than one]. It was just enough to deal with whatever issue they could meet.

The work went smoothly. Everyone was doing what they’re supposed to, while Amber Agate stood at attention nearby, occasionally throwing orders here or there.  
It was surprisingly easy to find even ground with this group from white court. It consisted of an onyx, heliotrope, chrysoberyl, amazonite and aquamarine. They did what they had to do without getting in each other’s way.

“Hey” the smallest, flying gem stopped using her tractor beam for moving the tools and whispered towards one of the Amethysts and Bismuth “Isn’t that Giftie?” she smirked nastily.

Both gems followed that the Aquamarine was looking at Amber Agate as she spoke. And the look on her pale blue face showed ridicule.

They exchanged looks, their expressions showing something only they understood. Aquamarine paid no attention to them. She only watched the Agate to make sure she doesn’t hear what she says.

“I thought she was just a decoration, phah!” she giggled, probably thinking that her comments are hilarious, but somehow, no one but her laughed.

“Hey, what are you talking about?” Onyx approached. She was a nice person from what they could say from their short interaction. There was a curious smile on her face and she eyed them in a friendly way.

CRACK!

A sudden sound of a whip tore through the air. The gems nearly jumped in surprise.

“Back. To work.” hissed Amber Agate through the gritted teeth. She pulled out her weapon to intimidate the subjects, but so far her target was an empty space.

No one needed to be told twice.

Violet Labradorite, Heliotrope and Tanzanite lifted the deck on which the machinery was placed. It allowed Peridot to open it from above. From what it seemed like they only needed to clean the screws and replace the rubber belt, which was quite big actually – about half a meter wide and seven meters long.

Aquamarine used her water wings once again, to fly up and stand on top of the machinery, right between the two poles that the rubber belt was strung on. She glanced at the Agate again.

“Looks like decorations have their toys too.” she said for a couple of gems around her to hear.

Peridot eyed her angrily, but had no comment about that. She saw however where the Aquamarine was standing and noticed that the rubber belt hasn’t yet been taken off. If they release it before she gets off, she’s going to be shot by it, and most likely land somewhere far from the terrace. [It works like a slingshot]

“Hey, you need to mmpfmph-“

Bismuth covered her mouth and gave her a quick, meaningful look. Peridot understood right away.

“What?” Aquamarine glared at her annoyed.

“Nothing. Nothing…” Peridot turned away and let her friend do what she wants.

Bismuth grabbed the pole of one belt and winked towards Amethysts right before she pulled it out with a grunt, releasing the belt.

They all heard a loud smack and Aquamarine’s scream as she was shot from the terrace, and fell stars know where somewhere between the buildings.

“Pfah!” laughed Bismuth “Y’all think she can get back here with her wings?” she turned around to her group.

The silence she was met with surprised her. Especially from the Amethysts, since from what she saw they were very eager to see Aquamarine shot like this.

Bismuth felt a freezing slash of fear inside her core, when she saw that every gem in front of her bowed with a diamond salute, facing the place behind her back.

She turned around in a flash. On a purple castle next to the building they stood on was an enormous balcony, and on it stood Yellow Diamond. And she was glaring at them with a calm face, but her eyes showed fury that shone even from the shadow of her hair.

%#^$*#

Bismuth quickly mirrored her companions, jumping in a diamond salute and bowing deeply, too afraid to look up and see the ruler’s eyes again. She probably heard Aquamarine’s scream.

_Oh no no no no no no …_

They didn’t know there were Diamonds in this castle right now! She would **never** have done that if she knew!

Amber Agate felt a shiver of her form that she couldn’t control. The anticipation and fear made her look up to see her Diamond again, probably for the last time before being demoted.

Suddenly she saw something she was the least expecting. A small, pink gem jumped on Yellow Diamond’s shoulder, and from what it looked like started saying something to her.

_Pink Diamond…_

The General turned her head towards the inside of the castle, listening, but her eyes stayed on the group of gems.

Next thing she saw was a blue hand showing from behind the wall, and grabbing Yellow Diamond’s arm gently, pulling her inside.

_Blue Diamond…_

The yellow monarch shot a last glance at them, her expression easening completely as she turned and walked inside, disappearing from their sight.

Amber Agate fell on her knees in relief.

_May stars bless and shine upon Pink and Blue Diamond forever. Let them be eternal as they’re the most generous, most radiant-_

She started praying as she was sure, that Pink and Blue Diamond were the only reason she was still here, and they gave her life a chance to continue on a position it took her whole existence to get.

She prayed for them both to take up as much Yellow Diamond’s time right now as possible, busying her mind with anything and everything, to make it possible that she forgets what she just saw.

“Yea I mean, she can fly, so she’ll find her way back.” spoke Amethyst joyfully, breaking the silence, seemingly unbothered by what just happened.

“That’s it!” yelled Amber “I’m applying for a transfer!” she hid her face inside her hands, trying to keep herself from yelling more at those gems or using her whip again.

“You say that every time.” a silent, strong presence of Violet Labradorite passed her as the gems started leaving the terrace after finishing what they had to do.

It’s true.

Amber had no idea what kept her with these gems. It’s been countless times when they made her regret being in charge of them, threatening that she will transfer and leave them.

…but she was still here.

“Come on.” Bismuth picked her up from the ground with one hand, hugging the manager close with a grin on her face. “You need to stop us from sliding from a bridge.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1*) got under her gem = got under her gemstone - gem version of 'got under her skin'.  
> Also I forgot to explain under the last chapter but
> 
> fit her cut* - fits what a gem was made for. It can be brought up in all aspects (appearance, gem shape, purpose, role, powers, personality, demeanor, ways of working, etc...)


	42. Star Glider part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Silver and honey, but revolving around azure...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, everyone!  
> A couple days ago, on December 30th marked one YEAR since I posted the first chapter of this story. I guess I can say HAPPY ANNIVERSARY! Even if you came her later than a year ago, even if you found this fanfic last week, even if you read this note a year from now. EVERYONE, all of you who are here, who managed to read all those chapters up to this one! Thank you for keeping me company, and sharing this experience with me, even though we don't interact much :') This story ain't ending soon so I hope we'll have just as great of a time as we had till now. I'm looking forward to it!
> 
> Additionally, I don't know how many of you are there but I wish ALL of you a Happy New Year! May it be better than the last one, and I hope you stay healthy and safe <3

“…two hessonites and an amazonite, my Diamond.” Yellow Pearl answered her owner’s question confidently.

“And their supervisors’ numbers?”

“That would be…” Grey Pearl, one of White Diamond’s assistants started as she rummaged through her screens “1H7K and 1N4B.” she typed what she cited into one of them “Should I include their Cut in the report as well?”

“No, no need for that.” Yellow Diamond said lightly, standing in front of a window sized screen.

That would conclude the short briefing.

The two pearls gathered their holographic displays and together, arm in arm, started walking on the enormous desk they were working on, towards the exit. They passed next to Yellow Diamond, and stopped further, meeting an obstacle on the way.

The obstacle being an actual owner of the control room they were all in. The one who’s colour was spread all around the walls and furniture, that shone in glossy white and silver hues.

Or actually her hand – to be more specific – that was laying on the surface of the desk, blocking Pearls’ way.

Sure, they could walk around it (rather ungracefully as there wasn’t much space), they could also jump through it. None of these options were appropriate though, as being in presence of a Diamond left no room for indecency. Especially this one…

White Diamond was standing straight, her hand allowing her to lean on the smooth surface of the table, eyes fixated on something in particular among her own monitors. But she did hear the tiny gems’ steps.

She shot them a quick glance with a stoic, emotionless expression. Yellow and Grey Pearl stood next to each other, hands folded in front of their bodies, looking up at the superior gem with wide eyes, awaiting patiently.

Unceremoniously she lifted her hand and brought it up to fold her arms together, getting back to watching the display in front of her. The Pearls gladly trotted away and let themselves out through the exit, leaving the two monarchs alone.

“What have you got there?” Yellow Diamond disturbed the silence after a few minutes.

She noticed that White has been focused on some particular project for a while now, and hasn’t looked at anything else.

“Hmm… nothing.” the Superior said evasively, without taking her eyes off the screens.

_Hmh, alright._

Yellow figured that White is too concentrated on something at the moment, to talk. _Well, fine._ It happens sometimes. She’ll probably tell her eventually after she’s done anyway, but for now, let her have her way.

With that Yellow just went back to her own work. Still staying in her senior’s room, because why not, and because she didn’t tell her to leave, and because White called her in here for a reason after all.

What this reason was remained unspecified however, as they spend a few days with each other already, and there was no particular project or subject brought up.

But it’s fine. It was quite common actually, for Diamonds to work near one another, but not necessarily **with** one another. Simply the spaces they owned were big enough for more than one enormous gem, and they didn’t mind spending time in each other’s presence.

It was nice.

“Does Blue prefer hexagons or pentagons?” White suddenly asked.

Yellow looked at her confused, taken aback by such a weird question out of nowhere.

“What?”

“What shape does she like?”

“…”

White looked at her questioningly with a wave of her hand.

“I don’t- I don’t know?”

At that White just lightly grunted with not too serious annoyance “How can you not know?”

“Am I supposed to?”

Yellow couldn’t see how this was important knowledge to have.

“Hmm. What about triangles?”

The junior woke great curiosity about what White is working on exactly.

But she had no idea how to answer the question.

“I… guess she likes them?”

“More than hexagons and pentagons?” asked the other without missing the beat.

“Just what are you working on?” Yellow walked towards her senior and closed the distance, to look at the display she was busy with.

It showed familiar patterns and numbers which weren’t difficult for Yellow to recognize. It was an architectural project of a flying space craft, that is designed to be able to smoothly glide through the air close above the surface of any planet. It had a singular transparent dome as a ceiling, along with huge wall-sized windows on its sides, which allowed the ones inside to see everything clearly and observe the outer environment, while sitting comfortably on a throne.

It was a very vivid definition, since Yellow remembered a conversation the Diamonds had some time ago, that included the machine between the subjects. Namely – Blue expressed that she fancies the craft, and that she would like to have one built for herself. This idea was however quickly shot down by White saying that she doesn’t need it. And it was dropped.

“A Star Glider?” Yellow asked with a light smile “I thought you said Blue doesn’t need it?”

“She doesn’t.” White said calmly, deep in thought “Which doesn’t mean she can’t have it.”

“So you changed your mind.”

“I did not.”

_That’s nice_. Yellow thought with a smile. Blue will be really happy to have it. But why is **White** working on it, and not her?

“Does she know you’re designing it for her?”

“No.”

_Oooh~_ The General got a warm idea of what the other’s plan was about.

“Are you going to surprise her with it?”

“Well if **that** will be her reaction…”

“So it’s a present.” Yellow laid her hands on her hips smugly. She knew what White was doing, and that she won’t admit it easily.

The other puffed confidently. “No? What would it be?”

It's how it always was. White denying to doing nice things for them, while very visibly doing them. Her reasoning was often the same: there’s no need for that; she doesn’t have to do anything of sort; it’s unprecedented; ‘ _What a silly idea’_ ; et cetera. And the excuse for this one would be that a Diamond can have whatever she wants, and she simply has time to assist in acquiring that.

The other Diamonds had absolutely no idea why she is like this. Why can’t she just admit, or express herself honestly… Especially because it isn’t often when she does that. And it always came easiest for her to connect with the rest of the Authority by separate actions or gifting them various items and gems, rather than… simply saying what’s on her mind. An event in which White Diamond tells someone how she feels or what she thinks, that’s unrelated to work and her position – would be rarest of the rare.

Yellow believed that, if she remembered correctly, Blue was the only one of them who’s ever achieved being this person. She’s an empath, so it makes sense. But it was such a long time ago… she couldn’t recall what White told her then.

Either way, the Diamonds were used to it already. It would be too difficult for them to ask or try to talk to their Superior by bringing up the subject themselves. After all – they differ from her too much. They can’t relate to her. She is a Grand Diamond, and they’re… just Diamonds.

Despite all the sad thoughts connected to it, there was a little sweetness there. Namely an innocent play that Blue invented a couple million years ago. It’s fairly easy as long as one knows the field they are playing on. Pink is yet too young and too unexperienced to join alone (but she’s tried a few times with assistance!). However Blue and Yellow lived long enough already, to beware, and to know how to make sure the game is safe. There were no prizes, no list of wins and losses or points. There was only satisfaction when one managed to achieve what they wanted. And it was enough.

The play was simple – try to make White admit her benevolence any time she refuses to do so. There were no rules other than one of safety that said ‘know when to stop’, which meant that you have to withdraw if the ‘target’ is/gets too angry. But Blue and Yellow knew the other very well, so it was never an issue for them.

“Well, you’re surprising her with it. It’s a present by definition.”

“I simply didn’t happen to inform her about it.”

“So you don’t mind if **I** do?“ Yellow said quickly with confidence and reached out with her hand to grab the diamond communicator “I’ll also ask her what shape she likes-“

Her movement of the device was stopped by a white hand which took a hold of her own to stop her. White closed the distance between them very quickly. Yellow didn’t even notice.

Silver eyes met honey in an exchange during which the smaller gem was sure she’s going to win.

“Don’t.” White said with a frown which made no impression on her junior who smiled gladly.

“Because it’s a present?”

The Superior glared at her irritated. She moved her fingers on the control pad nearby and shot a look at the door that closed and locked with a button she pressed. She took the communicator out of Yellow’s hands and placed it back on the table.

“Something close to it.”

Yellow watched as the other turned her back and walked towards the monitors.

“She’s going to love it.”

“I’d still like to know which shape she prefers…” White said.

It was endearing. Even though her skill was greater than everyone else’s, and her taste unquestionable – she still took into account another Diamond’s preferences. Of course, the shape of window frames wasn’t much… but it was still something.

“It doesn’t matter. She’s going to love it because it’s from you.”

White just showed her a bored, unreadable expression. Is what made Yellow realize her slip up. 

It’s not Blue. Sentiments in an everyday conversation are useless unless only delicately implied. Also White already knows that Blue will love everything she’s given from her Superior. 

_Ouch._ She made things awkward.

“But I’d go with triangles. They go well with everything.” Yellow said in an attempt to save the situation. 

It worked, as the only thing White did was return to her project, while applying a triangular shape into the design.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Diamonds are the highest standing, biggest, wisest, strongest and most powerful gems among gems. [but that you already know :3]. By themselves or a Grand Diamond they can be sometimes called "regular diamonds". Those are Yellow Diamond, Blue Diamond, Pink Diamond, and (known only to three oldest members of the Authority, disregarded from any mentions-) Red Diamond.  
> All the regular diamonds are (should be) universally on the same level in the Authority. Pink Diamond isn't, but is still reffered to and considered a regular diamond by many subordinates.
> 
> Grand Diamond is the highest standing, biggest, wisest, strongest and most powerful Diamond among the Diamonds. She is the one who is capable of creating other Diamonds. A Grand Diamond is White Diamond.


	43. Star Glider part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Overthinking goes brrrrrr

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The program I've been using for writing up till now broke :((   
>  now my grammar or other mistakes don't highlight or anything...   
> is the reason why you might be finding more than usual since now.  
> I apologise for that.

"I didn’t know bismuths weren’t supposed to go there...” Pink mumbled quietly. 

She was sitting in Blue’s hair loop the whole time since they started walking through the hallways, but instead of her usual posture – facing the same way the bigger Diamond was, with somewhat straight back and legs loosely swinging – she was crouching in the corner near her skin, hiding her face in the hair, making it difficult to hear her words. 

But Blue heard her perfectly. 

It was just another day, another attempt to teach the youngest Diamond  ** something ** . Anything useful that would qualify her to become an  ** actual ** ruler. Because so far, her gem type was the only thing that kept her a member of the Authority in the eyes of other gems, and at the top of hierarchy. When it comes to skills that define a leader though – she had none whatsoever. Well... maybe apart from the feeling of superiority, but that one was particularly useless if supported by nothing else.

And there she was, having assigned wrong and too many gems to a wrong area, creating a ruckus, confusion and even fear, because a few sapphires, who are quite fragile compared to quartzes, happed to find themselves in the middle of the crowd too – she was now sulking to the older Diamond’s chest.

_ Oh well.  _

Blue wasn’t expecting much actually, so it wasn’t really a surprise nor a disappointment anymore. It did however trouble her, that there weren’t any more responses to that left. ‘It’s okay’, ‘alright’, ‘you’ll do better next time’, ‘don’t worry’, many, many more. Blue just couldn’t figure out what else to say, and at this point she’s run out of original ideas. 

It simply hurt her to see the tiny Diamond upset, mostly because it doesn’t happen often. Pink is very energetic, and she rarely shows remorse. Usually, she tends to argue with them, or wave a hand visibly refusing to acknowledge her mistakes. None of them know what are the factors that determine her actions. Outside, it appears that only her mood has a say in the matter. And one’s emotional state having such a vital influence on decision making and actions towards subordinates, is already a feature unfit for a ruler. 

“Oh, Pink...” Blue said warmly and brought up a hand to delicately cover the space in which the other was.

The gems they were passing probably weren’t able to see Pink curled up in her loop anyway, but now she was completely invisible to outsiders from any angle. 

_It’s fine? Well, it’s not. _

_ Don’t worry? But it’s not something she should ignore.  _

The azure Diamond tried to come up with what else to say. Probably for no other reason than to kill the silence in the hallways, rather than to make conversation. 

Pink is going to liven up soon anyway, since she never stays hung on one thing for too long.

It is uncountable how many times the Diamonds had tried, and how many times it turned out to be futile. At this point perhaps it would be better to... just... leave it as it is? To let Pink be without trying to teach her, since it’s pointless anyway, and it takes up way too much of her superiors’ time. She can produce her essence, that is something. She also brings a nice light to any room she enters, providing, at times, a pleasant company, since she is, after all, a diamond. Truly, as long as she doesn’t cause trouble, such scenario could work out.

_She did well with organising a few balls recently_. Perhaps they should just stick to that.

“Just remember our conversation about learning from mistakes.” Blue said lightly once they stopped in front of the door of their destination. 

It was white, just like every wall they passed on the way here. The Diamonds were supposed to meet in one of White’s control rooms for a quick ‘swap’, after which Yellow is the one to take Pink, while Blue stays with their Superior. 

It threw her out of rhythm though, when she realized they’ve been standing in front of the door for a few seconds too long. Usually it takes just a quick moment, sometimes they even open before she gets to stop.

“Pearl?” she looked down at her assistant, who was standing next to the jamb and struggling with a monitor. Blue Pearl, just like any pearl, was responsible for opening doors.

“Apologies, my Diamond, but the door appears to be locked.” came a quiet response. 

_ What?  _

Blue moved to the side to try herself. 

These doors are nearly  ** never ** locked. Simply no reason for that, because no gem ever dares to go in uninvited. Most doors don’t even have a lock installed in them, that’s how rarely it comes in handy. 

|Access denied|– a short, simple message appeared on Blue’s screen as well. 

_...why?_ She looked at the entrance confused.  _Should I... call White?_ Thoughts began coming to her head.  _ But just for what reason- _

The azure Diamond reached out her hand to try and open the doors once again, when it suddenly opened, and from behind it came out Yellow Diamond herself. 

The company in front of her clearly startled her, as she flinched back with shock in her eyes. The doors behind her had opened only less than halfway to let the ruler out of the room, and they were already closed. 

“Argh... Blue, Pink!” Yellow smiled sheepishly, which was extremely unalike her “You’re earlier than scheduled.”

“Why were the doors locked?” 

What could possibly be the reason behind it? White and Yellow surely weren’t concerned about any regular gems. The only ones who could get in whenever they wanted were her and Pink. And what would they want to hide from them? 

_ What would you want to hide from  ** me ? ** _

Despite the light atmosphere that was surrounding them before, Blue now found herself getting angry. 

She felt Pink shift her position to a standing one, possibly already forgotten about anything that made her sad earlier. 

“So, how was the trip?” Yellow addressed the tiny gem in the middle of her chest, visibly avoiding eye contact with her counterpart.

_ Did you just-  _

Now that she’s been so blatantly ignored, Blue was furious. 

“It was cool!” Pink answered joyfully “I saw an asteroid from up close!” 

“That’s nice.” 

Blue moved her hands hurriedly to open the now unlocked doors. She will not be ignored. She will not be isolated.  ** They can’t be hiding things from her! **

It surprised her when the General’s hand flashed in front of them, as she powerfully grabbed the door and stopped it from opening halfway. The force of that movement was so abrupt that it bent the frame of it, breaking and cracking in the place of the grasp. 

Yellow Diamond sometimes forgets how strong she is...

**_ NO.  _ **

“What were you doing there, Yellow?” she hissed staring daggers at her counterpart, who desperately tried not to look. 

Instead, the General shot a quick glance inside, and Blue couldn’t see at what. 

It brought back repressed, but still sad memories from when she used to be yet young. It was such a long, long time ago. When she was called and considered ‘youngest diamond’, she felt a little out of touch from Yellow and White. She thought she was just an addition to the two of them...

Of course, she grew out of it really quickly, and she now knew that was not true. But the bitter feeling sometimes still ached her core.

“Ah, we’ll... We’ll be going now, Pink.” Yellow reached out her other arm to let the other jump on it.

The angry Diamond used this as an opportunity to try to get inside, but the body of her counterpart didn’t move out of the way. She clung her form to the  armor in front of her and pushed all the weight she had on it, wanting to make the other move. 

But Yellow didn’t even budge. 

“ **What were you doing**? ” Blue growled quietly, knowing that apart from whatever they’re hiding, White is probably in the room too. 

Yellow had little room for manoeuvring her head, since Blue’s face was mere few meters* from hers. Her eyes looked inside one last time, lingering on something for a second, studying it, before she finally let go of the door and stepped out of the other’s way. 

Blue walked inside with rage, but all she met was disappointment. She had no idea what she was expecting, but there was nothing inside the control room that the other two Diamonds might’ve wanted to hide from her. Just a very clean, bright chamber, with a huge platform of control panels, desks and thrones, and their Superior – White Diamond in the middle, looking at the three of them with wide eyes, visibly confused at the commotion. 

Whatever White had there, she managed to conceal it...

“Well, I’ll see you two back on  Homeworld .” Yellow said hurriedly and walked away with Pink on her shoulder. 

Blue sighed. 

Yellow is a terrible liar, but all the chance she had at getting her to speak was gone now. White Diamond however, if wanted to keep something from her – there's no way she’ll tell her. Honestly, there’s no point in even trying. 

Blue didn’t know what was the reason behind it, but she was sure that now she surely won’t find out. 

So, she just walked towards and onto the platform, ready to get to work. 

“You broke my door.” White’s calm voice broke the silence in the room. 

She wasn’t angry, didn’t even sound annoyed. It was more just a statement of a fact. 

The door was, indeed, broken from Yellow’s grab, cracks of it reaching the floor and its shards scattered around the entrance. 

“Eh...” Blue sighed heavily again “I’ll fix it.” she stated as she moved her fingers to find a couple of free bismuths for the job.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *The Diamonds are HUGE, so for them 'meters' are small, like for us are 'centimeters'.   
> Anyway - their faces were close.


	44. A bath part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The title is pretty much self explanatory ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized I somehow forgot to write some fluffs concerning this certain relationship.  
> This is my first attempt to fix this mistake.  
> Let me know what you think ;)

_** Unbelievable ** _ _**.**_ She thought in disgust . 

The  grimace o f rage was clearly displayed on her pale face. A sight which many would be afraid of, no doubt. It was an expression wordlessly saying  _‘run or die’_ ,  as some would describe. A big sign, advising to avoid this person at all cost, because this is not a good time. 

And yet, there was a gem who at this very moment was sitting extremely close to her. Holding her chin in one hand, while the second was running gently on her cheeks with a soft sponge. And on her face – not even a  ** minimal ** sign of fear.

“Close your eyes for a moment.” Blue Diamond said. 

Reluctantly, White did as she was told, to let the other clean her face completely. 

The two Diamonds were sitting in a bath that was one of their personal chambers. It was not an  ** extraction ** chamber. No. It was a  ** bath ** . Similar built. Different purpose. 

The reason why they were here now is because of what happened a few days ago. 

They were staying on a colony JU9014, that was given a name  Orchester . The planet’s composition very rich in valuable resources and nutrients. It was a very promising ground for kindergartens that were already built there. 

But an accident happened. 

Like on many planets, on this one could be found many ruptures in the earth’s crust, through which many different, usually hot substances can escape, as well as ashes and gases, a lot of which are toxic (to organic life). Such openings are called volcanos. 

One particularly big of those was located inconveniently close to one of the kindergartens. Nothing unusual, especially since gems’ technology allows them to control and evaluate if such arrangement is safe enough. This time however a mistake was made, by a unit yet not found – that estimated the volcano as dormant. 

It wasn’t. And the fact that during gem planting the injectors induce earthquakes, workers on the site did not recognize the shaking as a sign of danger. 

Fortunately, by sheer luck, a word from a sapphire reached White Diamond, who was taking a walk outside with Blue Diamond. They both reacted quickly and teleported themselves near said volcano. Thanks to the Superior’s judgment, which ordered Blue to help her destroy a nearby cliff using their powers, they managed to seal off the major part of the kindergarten site, before it was consumed by the flowing toxic, green lava. 

Which is the story that’s being spread around at the moment by  homeworld gems. It is correct, but not quite full.

Even though the Diamonds did, in fact, save most of the kindergarten, there were workers scattered all round it. Some, sadly, didn’t manage to escape the eruption, nor its effect. Approximately at least a hundred of them had fallen. Search parties had already started their interventions, and there are more being deployed by Yellow Diamond at the very moment. 

And White and Blue Diamond, although successful in their rather heroic act, both had their moods drastically worsen. During their operation they were standing on the higher ground, so they avoided getting swallowed by the hot river. But they didn’t have enough time to escape everything else... And so... they were now still covered in ash, remains of the green lava, and mud. 

Worse part of it is that they had to stay like that for a couple of days before they finally found a moment to take care of their forms. They couldn’t get to it right away because they got down from the cliff and helped some gems to get out from under the crumble. It was easier for them, considering diamonds’ size and strength. It also allowed them to early estimate how many of the workers who disappeared were consumed by the lava.

This is why Blue and White Diamond were now together in a  ** bath ** . A reservoir of water that was now mixed with great amount of soap. The main difference from the extraction chamber, apart from the purpose, was the size of the room. This one was greatly smaller (but still huge), and had a few big shower heads located on the low ceiling, that were mounted on long and elastic, but strong pipes, which made  maneuvering them to the user’s needs easy. 

It was a place where the Diamonds could immerse and wash their bodies. It can’t be done in extraction chambers, because they don’t want the dirt mixing with their essence, as it would be difficult to strain. Therefore, in the bath, diamond essence is not produced.

The two rulers were serving to each other here. Blue Diamond delicately scrubbing the ash and soot off of White, and White using a comb and her long fingers, to help the other get dirt out of her hair.

It was not a common arrangement. It was only taking place now, because the younger Diamond asked the older, before they got inside.

“Please.” she’s said with those big, pleading eyes of hers. 

Apparently, White’s hands, even though larger, have a skill of finesse. Despite never having to brush or comb her own hair, she didn’t have any trouble helping Blue clean hers. It was a rather simple task, and her junior convinced her to do it saying that she’d deal with it faster than if Blue was to do it alone. 

To save time she offered to clean the Superior at the same time. 

And so, they were now cleaning one another, hoping it’ll let them finish faster and get back to their duties, because there’s a lot waiting. 

_ Garghhhhhh . _

White was doing her best not to growl in anger. She was mad. And it wasn't as much because of the lost resources, or workers, or gems who made such a tremendous mistake, as it was because she  ** hates ** dirt. 

Or rather – she hates  ** being dirty ** . 

Which wasn’t so surprising. Her whole persona is an incarnation of purity, cleanliness and brightness. The role she has in the whole gem empire brings even more shadow to looking...  unpresentably . 

None of the Diamonds actually is ever recognized for doing ‘dirty work’. Perhaps some of them used to at the beginning of  gemkind’s existence, but these days it was extremely rare to see them on the field. They managed to qualify many other gems for any kind of task that might occur, and so now getting dirty was for them an exceptional experience. 

Still, even though before White got in the bath, she was furious to the point of considering shattering a couple of gems on their way here, now she found herself slowly getting calmer. 

Part of it might’ve been the task she took upon, because the steadiness and rhythm of combing Blue Diamond’s loop of hair was somewhat soothing. The other part of it was most likely the sensation of the other’s gentle hands, that were evenly spreading soap and water on her form. 

It’s always surprised White, since the very day Blue Diamond emerged, just how different she was from her and Yellow. The azure form wasn’t rough, she had no sharp edges anywhere and her features were round and elastic. Not to even mention her hair... 

The Superior had many occasions to study her junior’s body. This time too, although she knew everything about it, having to have her eyes glued to the silky strands while running the comb and fingers through it, allowed her to get lost in these thoughts once again. 

She was never interested in different gems’ forms. She never cared that they had different shapes and appearance. Before Blue emerged, she never wanted to, nor had any possibility to run her fingers through soft, loose hair. 

When her dark coloured junior came though, it woke a spark of curiosity. There was nothing wrong with such form - White was already aware. However, it always managed to amaze her, how she, a body of sharpness and hardness, with nearly zero sections that could be moved by mere wind (apart maybe from her heavy cape), was able to create something...

Blue’s fingers moved one last time down her face, for it was finally, completely clean. 

...something so  ** soft ** .

White’s hands were skilfully combing still, getting the remains of dirt from the other’s hair loop. 

She could see Blue’s face very well, for it was extremely close. The azure Diamond kept on washing her silver neck and shoulders, occasionally wetting the sponge in the water, or pouring some soap on it from a container nearby. Her eyes were focused, but calm. One could even say that she looked like she was... at peace. 

White felt... glad. She remembered when a very, very long time ago, Blue used to be afraid of her. Of course, she tried to hide it as well as she could, but the Superior Diamond wasn’t blind. It is absolutely normal for newly emerged gems, even diamonds, to have some uncertainty or even fear in relation to the highest monarch... It’s part of their code after all...

She was just happy that Blue grew out of it. And it wasn’t just the impression she got. It was obvious, and anyone would be able to tell, that someone who sits so close to White’s lap and runs hands on her whole form with such confidence, while letting her do the same – is  ** not ** afraid. 

Naturally there was some intimidation in their relationship, but at the moment there was none, as the azure Diamond evidently cared about nothing but helping her senior look decent at the moment. 

It was... kind of funny, White thought. 

She believed if Yellow was in Blue’s place, things wouldn’t go as smoothly. The General definitely wouldn’t be so eager to wash the other, nor to let herself be washed. She could see her flustered face, because if told to – Yellow would comply, but she surely wouldn’t be nearly as confident in doing so, as her counterpart is right now. 

“What?” Blue’s light voice suddenly broke the silence they were sitting in.

Azure eyes stared into the silver ones. Both sets big, shiny, and beautiful. 

It threw White off, because she realized she was smiling, and that’s what the other asked her about. 

She immediately dropped the corners of her mouth back in place and let her stare fall down on the hair loop she was working on. 

“Nothing.” 

What made her smile? 

What was she thinking about?

Is she allowed to think like that?

...White wasn’t sure, but it didn’t feel right.    


  
Suddenly another thing disturbed the comfortable silence that surrounded them again. This time it was a sound of heavy boots clicking on the floor and approaching the reservoir. 

“Are you two alright?” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Pink Diamond is very rarely left without at least one of the other Diamonds around. If I write a scene without her, it is a very small percentage of the Diamonds' life.  
> I don't write so much about her, because if I was to include her whole point of view, together with her turning traitor and everything... then it would be a story about *her*. And it's not. We're focusing either on the Authority/gemkind as a whole in the universe, or on its three oldest members, while primarily, obviously - shipping Bellow <3


	45. A bath part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> splish splash

Yellow Diamond stopped right in front of the hollow to look down and study the view of two other rulers carefully.

“Are you two alright?”

It was a question born from politeness, rather than from concern. That however only because she already knew the Diamonds were fine and unhurt. That’s what the reports are for, after all. 

Which is why she  came here with no rush, as there was no need to hurry. She finished all the most urgent duties, along with sending rescue teams on the colony which the accident took place on. 

Her presence here right now was an effect of the connection the Diamonds had. It’s hard to tell whether it exists because of their role and purpose for the empire, or because of their gem type. Probably both, to a degree. It was indisputable however that it’s a strong, nearly irresistible, invisible energy. 

Love. For gems a feeling that is nothing but pure. It’s something that’s hardly understandable, but it must exist – because why else would the Diamonds cling to each other, even if they don’t have to?

White and Blue just sighed in frustration without even looking up at the other. 

Yellow smiled upon seeing them less unnerved than they surely were before (from what she’s heard). She knew how much both rulers  despise dirt. White especially. They hate having any contact with filth, to the point where they rarely walk on ground, unless it’s paved or visibly dry and unmoving. 

Yellow herself doesn’t mind as much. She does need to avoid it most of the time, which is a matter of appearance, but if there’s ever a need or convenience of action connected to getting dirty – it’s not a problem in the slightest. Getting clean again doesn’t take much time with power washing they have installed in the showers, which the other rulers probably don’t like as much (and to be fair it doesn’t work well with Blue’s hair). And if the General is in a hurry, even a lapis lazuli will discretely get the job done.

“Where’s Pink?” she asked after noticing that the tiny diamond is absent. 

That’s another thing that was omitted by the public while spreading gossip about the incident. That the youngest ruler was there too. And she was close to her seniors at all times. As usual. 

“She’s on the upper floor.” White said. “She didn’t get dirty.” 

_Ah, so the record of your position was accurate._ Yellow thought. 

The only scenario in which Pink wouldn’t get dirty, while together with White and Blue on the hill during the event, was if the other two shielded her from the blast. And that’s what happened according to bystanders’ reports. 

Pink Diamond spent the intervention in Blue Diamond’s hair loop, and that’s where she stayed till the end of it. The azure monarch, aside from turning away from the major hit from the cloud of dirt, lava and ashes to protect the tiny gem, also found her form shielded at the front line by her superior. 

The difference between the older diamonds’ sizes however is not as significant as between them and Pink’s, so both of them got dirty anyway.

Oh well, at least their youngest remained untouched. 

“Thought I’d let you know about the progress while I’m here.” Yellow summoned a light holographic screen of hers “Search parties Pansy and Iris* found twenty-two gems already,” she read “nine of them were peridots whose forms haven’t given in to the hit they took.”

Peridots are gems of immense durability. Despite having little physical strength, they are very tough and can take much harm unscathed. Even if their gemstone takes damage, it’s still difficult for their bodies to dematerialize [poof]. Their durability to body size ratio is one of the highest among gem types.

Is why many of them didn’t lose their form even when hit by the river. 

“The cracked ones are being sent to the healing facility*, and a few of the whole ones joined the search parties to help. Zero shattered pieces have been found so far.” Yellow said smoothly, glad to deliver good news to the other two.

“What about the site?” 

“Two closest ones that were affected haven’t started the injection of essence to the ground before it happened,” the General put her hands on her hips while she spoke “so the most valuable resources are safe and sound.” she smiled.

“Good.” White said, visibly relieved “Did you deliver the word about rescue ships to teams on the surface?” 

“Not yet. I can go and do it right now though-”

“Don’t, I’ll go. I’m almost finished here.”

At that Blue Diamond looked at her wide eyed, quickly studying White’s expression. 

“Ah...” she drew the Superior’s attention on herself, and smiled delicately before delivering the crushing information “It’s just the front... I need help with the rest too...” she gestured lightly towards the rest of her hair on her back. 

Silver eyes opened widely for a second, looking at the huge, thick mane and realizing how much more work it’s going to take to clean it. White then frowned lightly and sighed. 

That grimace made Yellow notice that until now, and even at the moment actually, White was very calm despite the circumstances. She really hates being dirty, but she still sat quietly and continued to comb and clean Blue’s hair without a word of complaint. It was nice. 

“Twenty-three.” Yellow said after a moment, when she heard a report delivered to her that another gem was found. “Are you going to oversee the head counts too? Or should I do it?” 

“It hasn’t been done yet?” White turned to fully face her light-coloured junior now.

“No. The forepersons are waiting for our authorization.”

White grunted, rinsed the comb in her hand in the water to quickly clean it and put it back on the shelf “I need to go.”

Certain tasks evidently couldn’t wait long. And the Diamonds, sadly, had very little time to spend on something other than duties...

“I’m sorry, Blue.” she took the other by the shoulders and gently pushed her away so that she could get up.

“Oh,  noooo . No, please, White, wait-” Blue started, disappointed, but truthfully knowing that her pleading won't work this time.

“I really need to go.” the giant gem walked a little to the side where the walls were surrounded with shower heads facing every direction, and with a move of her hand turned on the magical machinery. 

Suddenly water began shooting from the little holes. Shooting, being a good word, because the force of it was so strong it could cut wood. It had to be this powerful, to ensure that every little grain of dirt gets washed off the diamond form. The speed of the streams was so great that it made the water completely white, blocking the monarch they were aimed at from being seen. 

They stopped after a dozen seconds, revealing White Diamond, who covered her gemstone in the middle of her forehead with her hand while being washed, with her body now fully clean. Clean, and shiny - more than usual, because of the liquid reflecting light that was still covering some places on her form. 

“I still need some help...” the dark coloured ruler said beggingly. 

“I’m sorry.” the Superior walked away towards the exit, without bothering to dry herself up “I’ll see you both at the briefing.” were her last, somewhat hopeful words before she disappeared behind the doors. 

“Thank you.”

Yellow heard sarcastic words from below. She looked down at her counterpart who, to her surprise, was glaring at her angrily. 

“You just  ** had to ** , didn’t you?” Blue said while struggling to untangle a comb from the strands on her back.

_ ...what did I do? _

“What-”

“Couldn’t this wait? Really?” she was clearly annoyed. 

“As a matter of fact, no.”

“Come, help me.” Blue gestured for her to come down, which was met with a grimace and a crooked eyebrow “Please, Yellow. I need to go too. I have two hundred gems waiting for me to tell them whether their managers are alive or not.” at the last part she changed her tone to less demanding one. 

_I have work waiting for me too..._ Yellow thought, but somehow, looking at the angry, dirty form in front of her made her feel... sympathy, and led her down into the bath anyway. 

She grabbed a comb and a handful of Blue’s  hair .

“Thank you.” her counterpart said roughly. 

The General gave her a disapproving look, but still continued to help. 

Suddenly Blue stopped one of her gloved hands from moving by grabbing it and holding by both of hers. “I’m sorry.” she sighed quietly “I just fought off a volcano...” her eyes were tired, apologetic “but I shouldn’t be taking it out on you...” 

Yellow just smiled lightly, signalling that she accepts, and is not upset. “Turn around.” 

_ It’s fine... Who else if not  me... _

They were standing like that in a bath, where the soapy water reached above their hips, for a good few minutes before the door to the chamber suddenly opened. And from behind them a so familiar, tiny pink gem ran towards the rulers. 

“Hey!” Pink yelled “Where’s White?” she asked after looking around the room and failing to spot the highest standing monarch.

“You just missed her.” Yellow said. 

“Come here~” Blue waved her hand to Pink, smiling warmly. 

The small Diamond did as she was told.

“What? I wanted to show you something.” little patience, fitting the little body.

“Oh, show us what? Look over there.” Blue pointed a finger towards a further wall to distract the other. The moment Pink turned to see, a big blue hand came from behind her and covered her head with a ball of colourful foam that’s been floating around them and on the tiles. 

“ Heeey !” Pink shouted. 

Blue Diamond burst out with laughter, and following her, to her own surprise, Yellow did too. And she wasn’t sure if this action was so funny, or was it just her counterpart’s joy so... contagious. 

Pink was chuckling while shaking the bubbles off her head.

“What did you want to show us?” Yellow asked when they all calmed down. 

“Yes!” Pink quickly moved and jumped to the nearest pillar supporting the ceiling nearby, the whole time having a wide grin on her pale face “I saw how strong you were when we were on that planet, and I wanted to see if I was too, and- are you looking?” 

“We’re looking dear.” 

“Okay. Watch this!” she shouted, took a swing, and hit the pillar with her tiny fist. 

The tiles broke at the impact, creating a circular pattern of cracks on the surface. The damage was about twice Pink’s size.

Yellow and Blue both dropped her combs and looked at their youngest in shock. 

“See!? See how strong I am!?” 

“But we already knew you were strong...” Blue said.

“What?”

“Many gems are extremely strong, Pink.” Yellow began explaining “And you are a Diamond, so obviously, you are too.” she brought a hand to her mouth while thinking “You probably could do even more damage if you used your powers too, and not only your physicality...” 

At that Pink took a previous stance once again “I can try!” she said confidently while taking a swing.

“No  no no no no no !” the two older gems shouted hurriedly, moving forward and reaching their hands so that their palms were visible to Pink.

“You don’t have to destroy things.” Blue said calmly after seeing that the other withdrew her attempt to hit the pillar again. 

“Certainly not the ones inside...” Yellow added with a grimace

She could just see how many holes are now in the walls inside the room they sent Pink to...

“You don’t have to destroy anything.” Blue smiled, reached out and gently took the tiny gem in her hands. “Come sit for a while with us.” she said dismissively, evidently too tired to explain everything  “Yellow will take you outside after we’re done.” 

Pink smiled and took onto swinging her legs at the edge of the bath, splashing water left and right. 

_ Yellow will do this, Yellow will do that...  _ The armoured Diamond rolled her eyes, but not with too much annoyance. Despite being extremely exhausted, she found this impulsive way of organizing rather amusing. 

Besides... she was already used to it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1*) Pansy and Iris - gem teams are all named and identified by codes consisting of letters and numbers. There are however many teams of older gems, who are highly qualified (at a certain profession, which can be anything) and often recognized, and they're allowed to choose a name for themselves other than a code, that even Diamonds recognize and accept. Those chosen names have been commonly spread around to be the names of flower plants (that come in many colours or at least aren't descriptive of just one - for example, there's no team named Rose or Daisy), because they can never be confused with something important or useful. 
> 
> 2*) healing facility - a place where cracked gems are being healed thanks to Pink Diamond's essence, or sometimes even by herself in person.


End file.
